Shifters
by PreparedForZombies
Summary: When Zak witnesses an innocent cryptid get murdered by Argost in his mad quest for the power of Kur, it invokes a new power within him. Can Zak make sense of them? Or will he become just another victim in Argost's game?
1. Naive No More

**_The Shifters_**

**Summery: When Zak witnesses an innocent cryptid get murdered by Argost for another clue to Kur, it invokes a new power within him. This is the story of his discovery of his newest powers and his adventures involving them.**

**I do not own The Secret Saturdays. All I own is the general plot of this story.**

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Chapter 1: Naïve No More

Zak's P.o.V.

It all started out as a normal family outing. Komodo harassing Fisk, Drew piloting the super blimp, Doc trying to unraveling another clue to finding Kur, and Zon occasionally joining in on Fisk's and Komodo's antics. I sat in a chair in the command-bridge flipping through a comic book and drinking a glass of Coca-Cola.

Dad had found another location where there was yet another clue that Argost was after. Again. It involved the capture of a reptilian cryptid, and that's all I really know.

Our destination is a small town south of Berlin, Germany. (No offence to anyone from that area.) Nothing exceedingly special; except for the clue that could cause unimaginable destruction if it fell into the wrong hands; namely the white, skeletal hands of a certain megalomaniac.

Since mom is a crazy pilot, we landed only a few hours after we set out from our home. We asked a couple of questions to the locals, looked around a bit, all while keeping a sharp eye out for Argost.

Apparently, word on the street was that there was this creature loose in the little town that would steal food from the windows of vendors in the cover of night. Several attempts to capture it or even identify it have been mustered, but all of them had come up empty.

At the end of the day dad decided that we would have better luck locating the creature if we searched during the night. We split up. Doc searching the northern part of town, Drew searching the southern portion, and Fisk and me patrolling the western edge.

We crept along, keeping quiet so we could, hopefully, get the drop on the cryptid. An hour into our search something in the shadows spooked the gorilla-cat at my side. He screeched in fright and hid his eyes behind his hands.

"Shhhh! Fisk, if you keep that up we'll never find this cryptid." I hissed at him.

"Yrros."

His wide eyes wandered from me to something behind me. Without saying a word my 'brother' spun me around by my shoulders. I felt my own eyes widen in surprise. Slinking before us in the middle of that narrow street was this deep navy blue reptile-thing that was no larger than 3 feet in length from nose to tail. It looked more like a fairy-tale style dragon rather than a lizard, wings and all. On it's chest was a shimmering gem no bigger than my fist and it was the same color as the rest of the creature.

It looked up at me with curious eyes, its nose wiggling as it sniffed me and Fisk. Remembering what I was here to do I reached out with my cryptid powers. I touched her mind and she seemed to enjoy the connection. While I had contact with her, I discovered that she was only a baby... well whatever it was.

"Come here girl, I won't hurt you." I coo comfortingly to it, and I hold out my hand for her to sniff.

It plods right up to me, throwing caution to the wind and rubs her scaly head against my hand. She turns her attention to Fisk and rubs up against his leg like a cat.

"Awww..." the big furry guy I call my brother smiled and scratched her behind her nub-like horns. She growled softly in happiness and arches into his hand as he scratches the ridge of spines on her neck. Fiskerton picks the little dragon thing up into his arms.

"You know what? You need a name." She looks back to me from Fisk's arms.

I study her for a minute, "I'll guess I'll call you... Lin."

Lin pulled back her lips into what I believe was a smile and nods her head eagerly.

"Great! Come on Lin, you have to meet my mom and dad. They'll love you!"

"Yay!" Fisk garbles out an excited yell.

As we walk back towards the ship Lin, being careful not to scratch me or Fisk, clambered from Fisk's arms to my shoulder. She was unsurprisingly light, I assume because she probably could in fact fly.

"Hey Fisk, can you go get mom and dad so they can see Lin?"

He nods enthusiastically and runs off to find Doc and Drew, leaving me with Lin. I walk slowly back to the airship so that Fisk would have a chance to go get them. So I start to describe my parents to Lin and amazingly she seemed to understand every word I said; she was intelligent. Not that Fisk and Komodo and Zon weren't, not by a long shot. It's just that something seems different about her.

As we were getting closer to the ship we both shudder as we hear a skin-crawlingly-creepy voice echoed through the small square that we were pasting through, "Greetings young Saturday. Thank you for finding the clue for me, it would have been a dreary process getting it myself."

The power-hungry madman slid from the shadows, hunched over and looking even creepier (if that was possible) in the pale moonlight.

"You're not taking Lin!" I growl at him, pulling the trembling dragonling closer to my chest.

"Oh you can keep the little salamander young Saturday. I just want the soulgem on its chest," he cackles.

V.V. Argost launched himself at me from across the plaza, his cloak flying out around him and giving him the appearance of a large vulture.

Lin jumps down from my arms and scrambles to my side, growling only semi-menacingly at our attacker. I tear out the Claw from its resting place on my belt and brought it up to fend off a blow from Argost. We continued to fight back and forth, him almost constantly with the upper hand.

Lin helped where she could, but I told her to keep a distance from Argost as he and I battled it out. I know I couldn't win, for I could feel my strength fading, but I also knew that all I had to do was hold him off for a little longer until my folks got here.

Suddenly Argost seems to decide that he is done "playing" with me and brutally batters me aside. I feel his clawed fingers as they sliced a shallow, four-pronged pattern across my chest through my shirt. I slam into the outer wall of the fountain in the middle of the plaza, and my vision blurs for a moment and I feel too sore to even move.

Lin is next to me in an instant, her muzzle rubbing the side of my face, encouraging me to stand. Then she gets torn away by the bony hands of Argost. He held her by the nape of her neck, and as Lin squirms he whispers sardonically, "Now I'll take this soulgem." The madman flips out a knife, my body was too weak to do anything, "It's truly a shame that to acquire it... I must kill its holder."

My heart stops and tears begin to pour from my eyes.

"No. Lin... No!" I cry as the heartless man held my helpless friend in the air.

I couldn't look away from Lin's terrified eyes; Argost lifted the knife higher into the air. He plunged the blade deep into her breast, into her heart.

She didn't jerk or cry out, but I felt my heart break as the light left her eyes. Lin sags limp in Argost's hand, never more to move or run or feel the loving scratches from me and my family that I was so sure she'd receive.

I didn't see how Argost took the soul- whatever off of her chest, but I do know is that it now glowed softly in his icy clutches. He dropped her unceremoniously next to me. I scramble over and lift Lin's limp body into my arms, misery washing over me. But when my hand brushed over the fatal wound, misery flushed away, rage taking its place and filling my mind full of dark, pure hatred for Argost.

Sadly enough, not thirty seconds after Argost had killed Lin, did my parents come sprinting into the plaza with Fisk. Argost didn't see the fireball my mom sent towards him until it struck him in the chest, and it sent him sprawling backwards. The soulgem arched high into the air, and then, with my free arm, I snagged it with the claw.

I didn't know how long their fight was, and I didn't care because at this point it did not matter that Fisk, Doc, and Drew have fought off Argost; Lin is dead.

"Zak! Zak are you okay?" my mother dropped to her knees by my side and places a hand on my shoulder. She looks down to see Lin's limp form in my arm, "Oh Zak, I'm so sorry."

I didn't look at her but up at Fisk. His eyes were glazed over with tears, and releasing a low, heart rending moan of sorrow as he brushed his fingers across Lin's blood slicked scales.

Dad takes Lin up into his arms, and mom pulls me into a hug, where I promptly break down.

"Why did it have to be Lin? Why did he have to kill her?" I cried into her shoulder.

"Because...," she started hesitantly, "because Argost won't rest until he has Kur, and he's willing to do ANYTHING to get it. Even destroy an innocent cryptid."

I stay kneeled there for a few more moments, and then, after I composed myself a bit, I grab the Claw and stand. After the jello effect left my legs and I steady myself I turn to walk back to the airship. As we walk solemnly back, I feel energy building within me like in the piercement domes, and it rapidly begins to magnify. Somehow I know this wasn't over.

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**That chapter was kind of awkward, but once I get past the beginning I usually write better. Anywho, please review. **

**Your Humble Authoress, Sangheili Warrior Girl**


	2. Transformation

**_Shifters_ review replies.  
**(Because I'm too lazy to write all of you back separately. ^_^)

_Makichan123- _I was kind of hoping you would enjoy it!

_Tori the Twilight Keeper_- Well here you go!

_NeverVisible- _That's the goal.

_Inkgodess- _Thanks for the tips, I'll keep them in mind as I write more.

_Skharr Ikor- _Yeah I figured that I should take that part of Zak and utterly turn it into something dark. I am incredibly cruel to the characters of my fanfictions sometimes, but what are ya going to do?

_Dawnmist11 _- I really took no pleasure in killing Lin, in fact I kicked myself for having to do so, but her death is incredibly important to the plot.

_knAngel18 and Kishira- _Thank you. I always love to hear that people enjoy my stories.

_mzullos5- The_ sorrow doesn't end there for the Saturdays.

Now on with the newest installment of _Shifters_.

I do not own the Secret Saturdays.

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**Chapter 2: Transformation... 3rd person P.O.V.**

As soon as the air ship landed, Zak insisted that they bury Lin before they did anything else. Doc agreed only because he knew Zak wouldn't want Lin to be examined in a scientific manner.

They laid Lin down under a small grove of oak trees in the forest near their home. Only Zak and Fisk could really cry for her as they looked upon her one last time.

After they laid Lin down into her final resting place, Drew promptly dragged Zak down to the infirmary and inspected the gashes on his chest and his bruising back.

While she dabs the disinfectant on the shallow wounds she asks softly, "Are you okay hun? You've been really quiet."

Zak continues to stare at the tiled floor, the glowing soulgem still in his hand. Drew thought at first that he wouldn't answer until Zak says, "Lin felt different from the other cryptids through my powers. Different from Zon, Komodo, or even Fisk. The, oh how do I describe it... the tenor of her mind felt foreign to me... Human."

Drew looked at her son, a shocked expression playing across her features, "How would you know it's human? Your power works only on cryptids."

Zak returns her gaze, "It does. No, I didn't recognize it because I've felt it before, like I would with other cryptids, but because it felt similar to my own tenor."

Drew internally cringes as she remembers the same look in Doc's, the other secret scientists', and even her own eyes after their assault on V.V. Argost's lair eleven years ago claimed many of their comrades' lives. Heart rending pain. It was now reflected in Zak's eyes, made worse because it betrayed the words that he didn't speak aloud,_ When did I suddenly feel and understand hatred?_

"I'm sorry hun," she says as she applies the bandages to the disinfected cuts. Then she adds as an after thought, "Your power is growing quickly Zak."

The door chimes as Fisk walks in with his furry face cast downward. He comes over and plops down next to Zak on the table.

Drew sighs and says, "I'll be up with your father if you need me." She kisses Zak softly on the cheek, hugs him quickly, and walks out the door.

Fisk groans softly, and Zak pats his arm, "It's gonna be okay buddy," he thinks quietly to himself for a moment, "Come on, I have something I need to do."

Slipping the soulgem into his pocket, Zak jumps down from the table and jogs to the elevator with Fisk close on his heels. They first went to his room but when they arrived Zak tells Fisk to wait for him outside the door. The gorilla-cat only grudgingly waited for him. Soon Zak returns with a box in his arms.

"Here," he hands it to Fisk, "Take this to the shooting range outside. I'll be right behind you."

Fisk cocks his in confusion as he watches Zak run off but just shrugs and trots to the range. Somewhere along the the way Komodo starts to trail the furry gorilla-cat. He waited there for about three minutes until he finally hears Zak's light footsteps. Fisk and Komodo turn to greet their brother, but stops with a squealing shriek, and Komodo growls his protests when they see what Zak held in his hands.

A cortex disrupter.

"Shhh! Guys, it's okay. I'm just going to destroy somethings that I should have a long time ago." he sets down the weapon and loads the box of stuff he retrieved from his room into the clay pigeon launcher. (Well what would you expect, that they shoot real pigeons?XD)

He clips the magnetic remote to the side of the gun and takes up a position near by, aiming down-range. He pushes the button and the objects fling into the air.

Meanwhile with Doc and Drew in the living room...

"I'm really worried about Zak... He's never had to see that sort of thing." Drew murmurs to her husband.

"I know, but it was bound to happen eventually. What with Argost breathing down our backs constantly." Doc says solomnly.

Drew growls angrily, "When I see Argost again I swear I'm going to-"

"To what Drew? We both know that none of us can take him alone, and I don't want to lose any of you," Doc drops his voice, "I'm surprised that Zak was able to last as long as he did."

"I know... Zak said something about his powers, like the way he communicates with them. He recognized what he claimed to be a human-like mind in Lin."

Before Doc could voice his thoughts the sound of a cortex disruptor firing echoed outside the Saturday home. They rush over to see Zak holding the weapon and shooting at unidentifiable objects with Fiskerton standing next to him. With a shout of rage Doc and Drew sprinted down to the firing range.

"Zak!" Doc bellows at him trying to get him to stop. Finally they hear the tell-tale click of the clay pidgeon launcher becoming empty, and Zak finally lowers the weapon.

When the pair finally reaches their son and Fisk, they could see a self-satisfied smirk on the eleven year old's face as he stood over a piece of rumble.

"Zak what were you thinking? This thing is dangerous!" Doc roars at his son.

"What are you doing out here anyway?" Drew adds angrily.

Zak looks down and says, "Taking care of some junk in my room."

He kicks a smoldering piece of what used to be plastic over revealing a label that said Weird World on it. Doc and Drew glanced around and even saw a blown apart Argost head. (Ha! Take that Argost! SWG sticks out her tongue.)

"Zak... Why didn't you just throw this stuff away?" Drew laid a hand on his shoulder.

He gave his mother and father an incredulous look, "Because that would be a waste of some perfectly good target practice."

Komodo appeared at Doc's feet and growled his approval. Fisk just shook his head as Doc sighs, "Zak, you know how dangerous cortex disruptors are," he watches as Zak's gaze became far away, and Zak shudders as he remembers the incident at Kumari Kandum, "You can't just be randomly grabbing them out of the vault. Just get us next time okay?"

Zak hangs his head and nods.

"C'mon, it's getting late."

Zak, keeping his head low, trailed after the rest of his family back to the house.

Later that night....

Zak looked up and down the empty halls from the safety of his room. Behind him, Fisk was fast asleep, snoring and randomly murmuring words. Zak quietly closed the door and crept down the hall, pausing at his parents' room to insure that they were asleep. Assured that they wouldn't wake while he snuck out for a bit, Zak slips on his tennis shoes and books it to the back yard.

He trots over to a pine tree and sits under it's sheltering bows. Zak gazes up at the sky through a gap in the branches, contemplating his weird power shift the evening prior. Clouds moved across the moon, partially blocking the moonlight from the view of mortals, who sleep below as the silver disk seems to stand an eternal vigil over them. The edge of the clouds came into sight, revealing the stars to the young Saturday. A pang of sorrow hit him as the sparkling stars reminded him of Lin's scales when the moonlight hit them during that first and last night that he knew her.

He sighs, closes his eyes, and strokes the soulgem in his pocket as the clouds clear the moon. Suddenly, as the moon clears the cloud cover, Zak feels the same fluctuation that he's felt twice now before, but stronger. Zak rolls over onto his hands and knees power as the peaked, and the enormity of it overwhelmed him.

As suddenly as the power spike started it stopped, leaving behind a feeling of him not being in his own skin.

When he attempted to stand up he was rewarded with falling over onto his back. Zak looks down at himself and gasps. He was no longer human.

His pajamas were replaced by thick black fur, a tail had sprouted from the end of his spine, and large clawed paws replaced his hands and feet.

_"AAAAAHHH!"_Zak screams in surprise, but it came out in a deep growl. He struggles to his feet... err paws and walks experimentally around the back yard. Finally getting the hang of his new form, Zak takes it to a trot over to a hollow were rain collects and peers into the mirror of water. He sighs to himself, _"How am I going to tell my folks... Oh yeah, I'll just walk up and say 'Hey guys it's me Zak.' I'll probably get blasted by the Fire Sword or punched in the ribs by the power glove," _as he stares at the black wolf staring back at him.

It was then that Zak realized that his eyes now almost glowed gold around his irises instead of their usual black. The same color that they turned to when he used his cryptid powers.

With a random quirk of energy and feeling, Zak lept to his feet and began to sprint through the trees to the out cropping of rock that showed the cliffs of his home to any who stood there.

Laughing in exhilaration, Zak sped faster and faster to the location of his choice. He arrived at the rocks in a fraction of the time compared to what it would have if he had ran there in human form. He trots up onto the rock and sits on his haunches, closing his eyes he breathing in the salty air. He was amazed that he wasn't huffing and puffing like he would if he was human when he runs out here, in fact it felt like he had just stretched before a work out. Zak was beginning to like the fact that he wasn't human.

As he began to relax, Zak heard a voice. No, not a voice, but the need of another; a cry for help. Zak looked to the north, to the direction of the call, knowing that he had to do something.

But what?

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**So did you like it? Did you hate it? Either way, review please.**

**Taking the fight to Argost! Sangheili Warrior Girl out.**


	3. A Trek North

**_Shifters _review replies**

_crystalshake-_ I'm glad you are enjoying it.

_Kisira- _I do notice that, so I don't plan on Zak getting shot with one. The "death to Zak" thing is kind of funny though.

Now on to the newest installment of Shifters.

I do not own The Secret Saturdays, if I did then you would be watching this instead of reading it.

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**Chapter 3: A Trek North**

In front of the door back into the house, Zak stood there in his waheela form, thinking about how he was supposed to change back. (Waheelas are giant wolf cryptids originating in Canada. Check it out on wikipedia.)

He closed his eyes and concentrated on his human form, what it was like to walk on just two feet. Slowly the power spike returned, and Zak eventually found himself on his hands and knees back in his pajamas, the call vanishing. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the soulgem, which still glowed bright blue. He jumped lightly when he suddenly heard the call again the second his fingers came into contact with the glowing orb.

He lurches to his feet and shoves the soulgem back into his pocket cutting off his contact with the call. Zak walks back into his house thinking about what he should do. He couldn't ignore the call, his new found instincts wouldn't let him, but he didn't want to drag his family into it.

Zak peeks into his parents' room, watching them sleep. As he stood there Zak came up with his conclusion, he had to go without them. He had to run away, if only for a little while.

Spinning away, Zak rushes quietly back to his room grabbing a pack and stuffing some clothes and a lighter jacket into it. He changes into his usual apparel, transferring the soulgem to that pocket and avoiding waking up Fisk. He ran up to the kitchen and dug out some freeze dried foods that the family took for emergencies and extended stays away from the airship. A full canteen of water, a lighter, a pocket knife, the cash he that he had saved, his data-pal (His info panel that you see him using at various times in the show), and the Claw also where thrown into his pack.

Zak ran down to the tech vault, passing the rows of various weapons strait to the personal signal blockers. He snapped the watch-like device onto his wrist. When activated, this gadget would block all out going signals but allow incoming signals to be received, allowing Zak to avoid being located by his parents while keeping in contact with the world.

Zak also grabs a self adjusting harness that they have used to mount cameras onto a cryptid's back so they could see how it behaves without following it around for a month. It could adjust to any size between a small cat to an elephant, so everything worked out in that regard.

In the place of the camera, Zak attaches the pack of things he would need onto the harness. He slips the harness over his head, and it instantaneously adjusts to his size.

Back in the kitchen he pulls out a piece of paper and explains to his family why he has to go without them on his journey and that he loves them, but he doesn't add a shred of information more. He folds the paper in half and writes "mom and dad" on the front.

With those things done, Zak returns once more to the door in which he entered not ten minutes before. He opens it and steps carefully outside into the moonlight. For a third time Zak felt his power spike and for his second time transformed into a waheela, now with his characteristic tuft of white hair between his ears.

Hearing the call again, he begins his trek to the north, but he first runs towards the east while he is still in the range of the security cameras. He turns north again to the hills above the Saturday home, his home. He sprints until his home was visible from these hills. Stopping, Zak looks over his shoulder wistfully, willing that his family understand his decision. He throws back his head and keens a wailing, lonely howl that echoes through the woods and above the cliffs. With that, Zak vanishes into the shadows.

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Later that morning...

Doc awakens with a yawn and rolls out of bed, noticing that Drew was already gone. He pulls on his usual attire and walks out into the hall and heads towards the kitchen for some coffee.

Fisk stumbles out into the hall before Doc from Zak's room. He grumbles a groggy and jumbled, "Goordmer."

"Good morning Fiskerton." Doc says as he walks by. He notices that Zak wasn't with Fisk as he usually was in the morning and asks Fisk, "Fisk, where's Zak?"

The gorilla-cat shrugs. Doc and Fisk walk to the living room, expecting to find the unpredictable 11-year old boy there playing games or watching TV. To their surprise Zak wasn't there.

They hear the elevator arrive on that floor and they turn to see who it was. Drew and Komodo step out of the lift and join the two other Saturdays in the living room.

"Mornin' Doc, Fisk." Drew says as she kisses Doc softly on the cheek.

"Good morning Drew. You haven't seen Zak have you?"

She frowns, "No, I haven't. When he and Fisk weren't out here playing games or in the kitchen I assumed that he was still asleep."

"Well maybe he's taking a walk around the compound or he's with Zon," Doc says nonchalantly. The four Saturdays boarded the elevator and rode up to the kitchen for some food and coffee.

Drew and Doc step out and get their daily caffeine intake while Fisk and Komodo wander about. While the two adults talk, Komodo discovers a piece of paper on the floor. He opens his maw to snap it up, but Fisk snatches the note away from him at the last second. Komodo bites at him with an annoyed growl. Fisk screeches and runs to Doc and Drew.

"Fisk! Komodo! What are you fighting over?" Drew asks as she snatches the paper away from the bickering cryptids.

"Hey Doc, look at this," She reads it again aloud,

"_Mom and dad,  
I have to leave here, there's something that I have to do. I can't tell you where I'm going, nor can I tell you what I'm doing. Heck I don't even know myself! All I do know is that it's a mission that I have to complete alone. Don't bother trying to track me. Take care of Fisk, Komodo, and Zon while I'm gone. I love you guys. _

Zak S."

Drew, Doc, and Fisk stand there in silence, Drew rereading the goodbye note that Zak wrote to them.

"Why wold he leave without us? He knows he could trust us with whatever it is that he has to take care of." Doc asked of no-one in particular as he abandoned his coffee on the counter.

"I don't know Doc. For all we know he could just be going out to check out a cryptid that we've seen before to clear his mind," as the elevator began it's descent her voice chokes up, "or he could be going to find Argost."

"For Zak's sake, I hope he doesn't find him if that's what Zak is doing."

They rode the rest of the way to the security level in silence, hoping that Zak hasn't gotten too far; maybe they could stop him before he did something that would get himself killed.

Several minutes later....

With wide eyes Fisk, Doc, and Drew watch as Zak transforms into a waheela and runs of towards the east on the security camera feed.

"Wooooorh...."

"How long has he had that ability?" Doc asks in awe.

Drew shakes her head, being just as shocked as her husband, "I didn't even know that shape-shifters existed anymore," she pauses and asks Fisk, "Did you know about this, Fisk?"

The furry Saturday just shakes his head 'no' while he garbles something in his weird tongue.

"What I don't get is why he didn't confide in us what was happening." Doc speaks up, "Well we know the general direction in which he ran. I will activate the tracker that I installed in the claw when I made it."

Doc taps a few keys and tries to access the tracking beacon. A frown furrows its way across his face as the map pops up on the screen.

Drew notices the change in her husband's expression and asks, "What is it Doc? Have you found him?"

He shakes his head, "No. I'm not reading a signal at all," he trails off, then spins to another console, tapping in new commands. He accesses the vault inventory list, groaning when he found what he was looking for, "Of course..."

Drew takes a look at the list and, seeing that a personal transmission blocker was gone, says, "Looks like Zak spent too much time listening to Doyle, or he's just naturally good at disappearing. Even If we did track him Doc, he would just figure out where the trackers where and would ditch the equipment, that is if he is truly trying to stay invisible."

"Well whatever his reason, Zak can explain it to us once we find him." Doc says as he exits the now useless system.

* * *

Days later sometime near sundown, in the Cascade Mountain Range...

Beneath the cover of a wayward pine Zak stirs from his deep sleep. The breeze moves the branches above him, not so much as ruffling his hair as he laid in the weather-resistant safety of his shelter.

Zak soon discovered on that first sunrise that his transformation had lost its steam and he turned back to human, but not before he put a good sixty or so miles between himself and his house.

The sudden change in form resulted in Zak rolling head over heels down a hill. Lucky for Zak, there was a blueberry bush to stop his rather uncomfortable trip down the slope.

Finally coming to, Zak looks around the shelter with a yawn. He crawls out and pulls an energy bar out of his bag. Munching on the bar, he pulls out the soulgem to get his bearings.

The call once again made itself known in his mind as he continues his hike north. The call, it seems, gets stronger the closer he gets to its source.

Zak glances at the sky, noting that it would be dark within the hour. Still munching on the bar, he retrieves the data-pal out of the side pouch of his pack. He checks the date and time. _Three days...why does it seem shorter than that?_

He brings up a map of the region so he would know the location of any towns ahead. The screen showed that he was 25 miles south of a small town called Ashford, Washington, and Zak figured that it would take him twenty minutes to get with in the city limits, forty to go around it without being spotted.

Zak stuffs the reminants of the energy bar into his mouth and jumps over the log in front of him, getting as far as he could while in his human form. He had also discovered that he had to transform at least once every night, the power gave him no choice.

One hour later.....

Zak sat on an outcrop of rock, watching as the sun shone its last rays of light for that day. As the sun finally left that side of the planet, the transformation power spike returns, and Zak feels himself shift again. After the first two nights of transforming and it wasn't such an alien experience, Zak actually began to enjoy it.

No, enjoying it is an understatement. It was rapture.

With a echoing howl, Zak leaps off of the rock and into the forest below. He ducks and weaves through the trees and rocks, easily avoiding bushes by launching himself over them. Faster, faster, and faster he shoots through the bramble bushes and over ravines, never slowing down or pacing himself.

The wind whistles past his ears, providing a nice background sound as he races onward. The next twenty minutes, like the rest of the trip so far, was uneventful.

Suddenly, like a white-hot iron being jammed into his head Zak feels another, more intense call. Ahead he hears a commotion and the sound of jetpack engines firing, it echoing into his ringing head.

Pushing the shock of this new surprise down, Zak flings toward the new call. Sliding to a stop, he peeks through the bushes into a underbrushless area of woodland.

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**Sorry about the cliffy guys, I just figure that I should update the story before the year is out. If you have any suggestions, ideas, or criticism then go ahead and review, or review anyway. Your input makes me smile and helps me tell a better tale. **

**Have a happy New Year!**

**Taking the fight to Argost. Sangheili Warrior Girl out.**


	4. Tara Valdeze

**Chapter 4: Tara Valdeze**

_Pushing the shock of this new surprise down, Zak flings toward the new call. Sliding to a stop, he peeks through the bushes into an underbrush-less area of woodland._

There before him stands a girl about his own age. Thanks to his improved sight, Zak notices that she is wearing a dark grey jacket, a navy blue shirt that has a silver lion paw with one eagle wing of the same color to each side, grey slate colored cargo pants, and onyx combat boots. He also notices that she has brassy brown hair and steely-blue irises which glowed slightly from an unknown source.

In her left hand she clutches a seven inch, double sided combat knife, and she has a holstered pistol strapped to her right thigh.

Zak follows the girl's glare, only to be met with an unpleasant sight that instantly made a low growl rumble in his chest.

'Van Rook.' Zak growls angrily to himself, 'Figures-- and look he has a new lackey.'

Sure enough, standing next to Rook was a another of his apparently easily replaced apprentices. His uniform was similar to Doyle's but it was green themed and it lacked the sleeves altogether.

Zak turns his rapt attention back to Rook as he begins to talk in his Russian accent, "So my little bird, are you going to give up quietly or are we going to have to play rough? My client doesn't want you damaged, so I suggest you surrender now."

The girl's humorless laugh rang out like a bell throughout the forest in reply, "Like I would want to make your job any easier for you than it already is! I mean two grown men against an eleven year-old girl? That is hardly a fair fight."

"Then why don't you come quietly so we can skip the fi-"

"My answer still stands," she interrupts, her eyes scanning the bush that Zak was crouched behind and locks eyes with him. She obviously knew he was there; she returns her gaze to Van Rook, "Besides, I meant that it was hardly fair for you!"

The girl whips the revolver weapon from its holster quicker than Rook or his apprentice could track, and she fires a round at the faceless apprentice, spinning behind a tree for cover. The laser-like blast struck the apprentice on the shoulder and sent him flailing to the ground, a grunt of pain escaping his lips.

Rook took to the offensive immediately and charged forward, using his jetpack to add to his speed. The girl turns around the tree trunk to fire another shot, not realizing that Van Rook had gotten too close for the weapon to be of any use. She squeaks almost inaudiably in surprise as Rook lunges at her and catches her chin with a punch.

The girl sprawls out on the ground and moans, and Van Rook plants a boot on her gut and aims his wrist blaster at her face, "such a fiesty little girl, aren't we-"

With a roaring howl, Zak launches himself from his place in the bushes and into Van Rook's back. With a stunned cry, Van Rook is sent flying into a wide tree trunk, his head smacking into the living wood with a satisfying thump. Zak rounds on Rook's apprentice, who had just recovered from the stun of the laser blast. With a growl Zak leaps at the man and sinks his claws into his shoulders, taking the man off of his feet and to the dirt.

The man, being stronger than Zak thought he was, put up a good fight. Zak struggles to pin him down without accidently killing him, but the man would just find another leverage point. Suddenly Rook's apprentice throws a handful of dirt into his eyes, and he pulls a knife out and stabs it into Zak's muscled shoulder.

He howls in shock and pain and backpedals away from the knife-weilding man. While Zak tries to blink the dirt out of his eyes and shake away the pain the man charges at him and tackles him to the ground, jamming a fist into the injury that he created. Zak howls in agony again as a fresh wave of pain strikes through his body again.

The apprentice brings the knife to the young Saturday's throat and prepares to finish the fight when out of the blue a taloned claw comes and tears him away from Zak.

Regaining his eyesight, Zak is greeted by the view of a brown griffin crouching protectively in front of him. The griffin shrieks a warning at the apprentice.

Knowing that he wouldn't be able to fight off both beasts, he runs over to Van Rook, scoops him up, and flees into the night.

With a pained sigh Zak changes back to his human form, the wound in his shoulder sending searing pain through his body. Zak looks over to where the girl had fallen, but she was no longer there.

The griffin takes a step towards him, and creens reassuringly. Suddenly its outline fades and its general form is surrounded in a haze. This causes Zak to blink as he tries to see it clearer, but instead of the griffin, the girl whom he had saved kneeled next to him.

She touches his unwounded arm and says, "Don't worry, I won't hurt you," her eyes moved from his to the wound on his shoulder. She frowns and whispers to him, "It's going to hurt, but I'll take care of this."

She looks back into his eyes, and he nods giving her the go ahead. The girl places both of her hands on each side of the knife wound. Zak's eyes grow large as the girl's hands began to glow bright blue. He looks up into her eyes, which where focused on his wound and the irises were glowing the same color. He looks again at the stab wound, and it was no longer bleeding and the edges were pulling together. A wave of pain shoots through him.

"So, what's your name?" Zak gasps as another wave of pain made it's way through his body, as the girl heals his wound, and as an after thought he adds, "I'm Zak Saturday by the way."

She glances up at him from her work and smiles lightly, "I'm Tara, Tara Valdeze. Thanks for helping me out back there, I'm not sure if I really would have been able to beat those both of those guys." her frown returns, "I'm sorry tht you got hurt. Those two have been hunting me for two days, it's crazy!"

"Rookie doesn't ever fight fair, so you're not the only one."

Tara lifts her hands from his shoulder, and Zak rolls it experimentally. He flashes a grin at her and says, "It's just like new, thanks!"

"Good." she stands up and offers him a hand.

He takes it and she pulls him to his feet. He asks her, "So you're a shifter too?"

"Yeah. I've been one for maybe five, six days. Obviously, my form is a griffin."

'"Yeah, I've been able to to transform for three days, tops," Zak glances around the clearing and asks, "Hey, do you know a place nearby where we can stay? I don't think that it is wise to stay here. If Van Rook's client really wants to capture you, then it's not wise to linger anywhere."

Tara nods as she grabs her pistol from the ground where it dropped, "Yeah, there's a kind woman that I came here to find. I know her well, she'll put us up for the night, we can talk there."

* * *

Sorry that this was a short chapter, but I promised Kishira that I would update ASAP, so here you go.

Taking the fight to Argost. Sangheili Warrior Girl out.


	5. Control

**Shifters**

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own the Secret Saturdays, but I do own Tara and this particular storyline.

**Note to the readers:** Hey everybody! I'd like to take a moment and thank all of those who reviewed or added _Shifters_to their favorites and/or alert lists. Thanks for showing me that you enjoy the story! If there are any suggestions on how I could improve the characters so they're not OOC-ish, grammar errors, or just an idea for the plot don't hesitate to tell me!

Part of this chapter was inspired by a scene in Terry Goodkind's _Wizard's First Rule, _where Richard almost loses Kahlan to the underworld. Read the book, it's really really good.

**Chapter 5: Control**

**2:30 am, with Tara and Zak...**

Zak nods and scoops up Tara's dropped knife and hands it back to her. Tara takes it back and slides it into its scabbard concealed above her left boot.

Zak checks that his pack is still on and says, "Where does this lady live?"

Tara glances at him as she grabs her own pack from behind a tree, "Here in Ashford, on the edge of town, in a red brick house. Can't be more then a ten minute's walk."

As she slings one of the straps onto her shoulder, a brown leather pouch falls out of the open main compartment. From the opening in the pouch a gold light glowed in the dark clearing, catching Zak's attention and as it rolled closer towards him, the light within intensified until the source was visible through even through the leather.

Tara recognizes the source of the unearthly light and that was what dropped from her pack with a jolt. Her eyes grow wide and she lunges after it, but Zak beats her to it. He picks it up off of the ground, pulls the object out, and gazes at it intently. Next to him Tara curses and begins to protest but he cuts her off, "Hey... I recognize this."

"Wha- how? This has always been in my care, ever since I was old enough to understand that it's important. It has NEVER left my sight."

"No, that's not exactly what I meant. Here, reach into my back pack, top of the center compartment," Zak says, his eyes not leaving the object in his hand.

Tara reaches to open the pack when it too starts to glow as intensely as the object in Zak's hands. Tara experiences a few moments were she isn't aware of any of her actions, and she suddenly jolts back into full awareness noticing an object now nestled in her palms.

Zak looks up at her and whispers, "That's where I recognize it from."

In each shifter's hands was a soulgem, one an intense blue and the other an equally intense gold. The woods surrounding them were no longer lit by the full moon above, but by the soulgems' light. The eerie light cast long, dark shadows into the woodlands.

"What is going on?" Tara and Zak murmur at the same time.

Several moments of confused silence follows, and Zak finally says, "I wonder... Tara, you touch this one and I'll touch the other."

She just nods, and they both tentatively reach out to the other's soulgem. At the same moment their fingers touch the smooth surface of each object. The light surges forth from each soulgem, exploding and separating from them. At first the twin lights were orbs but quickly they began to take a form, a griffin formed from blue and a wolf from gold.

The two figures circle the two humans. Then, with an ear-piercing shriek and a bone-chilling howl, the two apparitions cease their circling motion and charge into the two children's chest. The griffin into Tara, the wolf into Zak.

Both stagger back, dropping the now dull soulgems, from the impact of such pure, unbridled energy.

In his core and mind the beast of energy and light fuses with Zak's very soul. A surge of understanding flows through him of how he shifts, knowledge of what he truly is reassures the primal fear in his subconscious, silencing it.

The memory of the night of Lin's murder dances in front of his mind's eye, every vivid detail remembered; clarity hits him like a ton of bricks. The black hatred that he felt for Argost turns to a calm-on-the-surface, righteous fury; when the time came for Zak to fight that final battle with him, Argost would die for his crimes against not only humanity, but for the crimes against the cryptids he has harmed or killed.

There was a sudden focusing affect on his cryptid powers, like taking the light of anything and focusing it with a magnifying glass until it burns a blade of grass. By far the most powerful that he's ever felt it in his life.

Finally the form of his shift became a part of his consciousness, always within reach, always ready to fight.

Zak looks over to Tara once he got control of his extremities. She was on her knees, her shoulders shook with sobs, and her face was wet with tears.

Zak scrambles over to her, and he sees her horror-stricken, ashen face. He takes her trembling shoulders in his hands, giving her a gentle shake, "Tara, Tara what's wrong?"

She shakes and a whimper escapes her throat, "No... gone... failed..."

"Tara what's going on?" he asks urgently.

She shudders again with a cry. He feels goosebumps rise on his arms, and Tara gasps between her choking for air through her sobs, "My father... gone... my fault... so alone..."

She turns her eyes to him, but, Zak realizes, her gaze wasn't here with them but in a place far away. He realizes that he's losing her to the demons of her past, and, in an act of desperation, reaches out to her with his cryptid powers even though he knows that it doesn't work on humans. He relaxes his mind into a state of calm and touches her mind.

Zak's surprise nearly caused him to lose his grip on his core, he actually succeeded in contacting her mind. Tara's painful, grief-ridden memories blast at him the second of his contact, trying to break his calm, but Zak ignores them and holds onto the calm within himself. He whispers loud enough for her to hear, "Tara, you're not alone. I'm right here. Let me help you."

"Zak?"

He squeezes her shoulders again, "I'm here. Come back, I'm not leaving you."

Tara's eyes focus on his face and relief floods her features when she recognizes Zak. She breaks down into a what would seem more normal way to cry, and collapses into him. Tara holds on to Zak like a drowning person would a floating life-preserver.

Not knowing what else to do, Zak wraps his arms around her hesitantly and whispers that everything was okay. Eventually she falls out of consciousness. He carefully lays her on the ground and glances around the forest, wondering what he should do now.

They obviously couldn't stay here, but Zak had no idea where this woman's house was. With a sigh of frustration, Zak takes Tara's pack, attaches it to his harness, and picks up the light-less soulgems, putting them into the packs once more. He hefts the bags onto his back and gently picks Tara up and puts her over his shoulder firefighter style. Zak shifts as easily as a thought into his secondary form with Tara on his back.

Off in the shadows the movement of a human silhouette catches Zak's eye, the moonlight reflected off of its glasses. He faces it and growls menacingly as it moved closer. 'Man, I really don't need this crap right now!'

-----Two hours later with the rest of the Saturdays, not far from Ashford.

Doc and Drew study the wide set of tracks set in the dirt before them, waheela tracks. After they stopped watching the video feed, the Saturdays tracked Zak old-school style to the east for about a half a mile, but came to discover that Zak turned sharply north after out of sensor range.

Doc and Drew were annoyed with this turn of events but both were also impressed. Over the past three days they've been long range tracking him, after realizing that they wouldn't be able to track Zak on the ground, for he had already traveled too far. But they would land and use Komodo's nose to double check the trail.

So now they had to follow along a path that Doc thinks that Zak might have taken in the airship. Drew trots up to where Doc was trying to figure out which way Zak went.

"How's it going hun?" she asks him softly, laying a hand on his shoulder.

Doc just groans, "Not well. Zak's tracks are erratic and all over the place. The topography maps from this area indicate nothing but rough terrain for 30 miles or more, but he just rushes through this stuff like it's flat land."

"Well the species that he can change to does live in a wide varity of terrains that it lives in. I'm not surprised that he could just zip through stuff like this."

"True. Komodo?"

The large lizard lifted his head from the rock where he was curled up for some rest. Doc asks, "Scent check?"

Komodo hisses and crawls over to Doc and Drew sniffing about for Zak's scent. With a gurgling growl he charges through the bushes, and Fisk follows after through the treetops.

"He has the trail!" Drew shouts, and the two Saturdays follow the komodo dragon and Fisk through the brush. They follow the two cryptids through the thick foliage for 3 miles. At about 5 o'clock, the four Saturdays came to a place where the brush disappeared altogether. There was a burn mark on the forest floor and the lingering scent of jetpack fuel.

The two adults moved methodically through the scene of an obivous struggle. Drew wanders over to where a portion of the bark on a tree was splintered in the form of a human torso.

"What in the name of Kur happened here?"

Doc voice responds, "Well it looks like Zak gave whoever was here a run for their money. But who won..."

Drew turns to see Doc standing before a tree with a grim look on his face. "Doc what did you..." her gaze follows his and she gasps. There were pieces of black fur stuck to the tree bark along with a sizable splatter of blood. They both realize that this had to be Zak's blood.

"Zak... Doc we have to find him now! He could be dying or..." she trails off with a sob.

Doc pulls her into a firm embrace fearing for Zak too, "No... He'll be okay. He's a Saturday and as you said before, everything has a way of working out for us."

She just nods into his chest and pulls away with a fierce look in her eyes, "Let's go find our son."

A few yards away Fisk finds a small metallic object on the forest floor. Curious, he picks it up and brings it over to Doc.

"A mission cam? Fisk where did you find this?" Doc asks the gorilla-cat. Fisk just points to a spot on the dirt. Doc nods and inserts part of the cam into the tech gauntlet on his arm.

A small holographic screen pops up and the two others watch from Doc's side. The video feed started off with the person in the air, using a jetpack, and who ever it was was chasing a griffin. The griffin rolls and dives through the dark sky trying to evade laser blasts coming from both the person this cam belonged to and a second pursuer. It sped up and so did its pursuers, but as the two caught up with the griffin, the creature spread its wings wider and abruptly stopped in mid air. The camera man and his comrade overshot the griffin by several yards.

By the time the two turned around the griffin was nowhere to be seen, but apparently the companion knew where it went. He sped off after the griffin and revealed himself: Van Rook. Van Rook and his what Doc and Drew assumed to be his new apprentice dropped down through the treetops and landed in front of a girl no older than Zak.

Van Rook, still in the view of the camera, says, "So my little bird, are you going to give up quietly or are we going to have to play rough? My client doesn't want you damaged, so I suggest you surrender now."

The girl laughs and gives this defiant reply,"Like I would want to make your job any easier for you than it already is! I mean two grown men against an eleven year-old girl? That is hardly a fair fight."

"Then why don't you come quietly so we can skip the fi-"

"My answer still stands," she interrupts. The girl looks away from them into the bushes; she returns her gaze to Van Rook, "Besides, I meant that it was hardly fair for you!"

Doc, Drew, and Fisk watch the feed with rapt attention as the girl whipped out the pistol at her side and shot at the apprentice. He falls to the ground with a groan as the blast carries him off of his feet. The frame of the camera was in a good enough angle still to see what was happening between the girl and Van Rook. They watched as the mercenary punched her and sent the girl to the ground.

She groans in pain as Rook plants a boot on her gut and points his wrist blaster at her face, "Such a fiesty little girl aren't we-"

A ripping howl fills the speakers and a blur of black fur and fangs slams into Van Rook sending him smashing into the tree that Drew was inspecting earlier. The creature came to a halt between the girl and the apprentice. It was Zak, and his parents and Fisk got to his see his eyes for the first time in his shift form. They took a collective breath as they looked into the piercing gold eyes.

Zak growled and lunged after the apprentice after he got to his feet. The two of them grappled there on the forest floor. They watch the apprentice throw dirt into Zak's face and then knife him in the shoulder. Drew tenses up in fear for Zak, Doc stares at the screen with rage building, and Fisk growls at the screen as the underhanded apprentice not only gives Zak the initial wound but then goes so far as to hurt him further with it.

Silence settled over the three when the video screen showed a knife plunging towards his throat. They hear a screach. The apprentice turns to see the griffin from earlier attacking him, and it swats the man in the face away from Zak, sending the cam tumbling away. The griffin shrieked again and then the screen filled with static.

Drew was livid, nobody hurt Zak and got away with it! She was also scared out of her mind for him.

Suddenly several gas canisters bounce into the area where they stood. They explode and the Saturdays, minus Zak, Komodo and Zon, fall to the ground as the nerve gas takes its toll. Before they both fell out of consciousness, Doc and Drew catch a glimpse of two silhouettes standing not two yards away.

------

What made Tara freak out? What happened to Zak? Who captured Doc, Drew, and Fisk? Stay tuned for more installments of_ Shifters_!

P.S. I thank Bulldan for the aid in my quest for the concept for this chapter! *Applause...* Also I apologize for the wait and I would have had this chapter finished a while ago, but the evil beasties that all high school students are familiar with, the mid-terms, had me freaking out for a week, so I didn't have much time with the computer.

Taking the fight to Argost. Sangheili Warrior Girl out.


	6. Daemon Cypher

**To the reviewers:** Thanks for making this my most popular story that I've written thus far. I love your reviews and I hope you all enjoy this chapter!  
Also, I know the first chapter is... brutal but I was under the impression that if wasn't supposed to be a semi-kid friendly show that Argost would be just as brutal. I mean really, 70 secret scientists went into his house to get the Kur stone, only 10 at maximum made it out alive. The dude is psychotic!

You can find the pictures of Zak, Tara, and Deamon on Deviant Art under: S.G. Saturdays

**_Shifters_**

**Chapter 6: Daemon Cypher **

Suspended in the containment field, Drew stirs from her forced slumber. Still groggy, she stares dumbly at the grey walls and she is unable to remember what happened. Her stuporous gaze turns to the large man in the field next to her, and her brain finally catches up with her body.

"Doc. Doc wake up!"

Slowly he comes around and lifts his head, "Ughh... Drew Where are we?"

She groans, "I don't know. I was just as unconsious as you when whoever has us put us in here."

Doc glances around the room and says, "Well whoever it was knows their stuff. Our arms and legs are locked in place, and all of our gear is gone."

"Fisk is gone too, so any help he would be is gone too." Drew added worriedly.

"Must have him in another cell block." Doc replied.

"Looks like I'm not the only one who got gassed." a young voice says.

The two adults turn their eyes to a containment cell were a young boy was suspended in a field similar to theirs. He regards them with a curious yet cold gaze. He had stunning red eyes and a fiery head of hair that was cropped short at the sides but on top it was long enough to be spiked. He wore a red t-shirt with the phrase "Semper Fidelis" printed in black across the front and white pants. His wrists and ankles all had large metal orbs clamped to them that glowed blue like Doc and Drew have on theirs.

"Who are you?" they ask in unison.

"Name 's Daemon Cypher." he pauses examines their faces, "You guys must be those two Saturdays that Rookie was going on about. Doc and Drew right?"

Doc nods grimly, "Yeah that's us."

"Wait. Did you say 'Rookie?'" Drew asks.

Daemon kind of shrugs, "Well his real name is Van Rook," he smirks, "but I call 'im Rookie because it really adds insult to injury."

"How did you hurt him?" Drew asks, interested in what the boy did to her ex.

"Slashed him up real good and irreparably damaged a good," his face scrunches up as he humms for a second, "maybe 95 percent of the gear he brought with him to capture me. I also think that I gave his apprentice a concussion."

Drew chuckles, "Nice work Daemon. I comend you for going down hard."

He motions with his head in a bowing manner, "Thank you, thank you."

Doc asks, "How long have you been here?"

Daemon shrugs again, "I guess maybe four days, but without a clock or the sun I can't really track time. Since you two are larger than me the gas must've worn off faster, so I'm guessing that you have only been down here five or six hours tops."

Doc sighs warily, and Drew grumbles to herself, "Great. Just when we were close to finding Zak, we had to get captured."

Over hearing her, Daemon cocks his head to the side, "Who?"

Doc looks over at him, "Zak, our son. He's about your age."

"So he's twelve then?"

Drew smiles, "Close. He is going to be twelve soon."

Daemon grins, "Cool."

Suddenly the door to the cell block opens, and Van Rook and his apprentice swagger into the room. He ignores Doc and Drew and walks strait over to Daemon. Rook presses a button, and the shackles zap Daemon. Doc and Drew both growl underneath their breath at the unprovoked electrocution, but the boy just grits his teeth angrily.

"Comortable?" Van Rook asks mockingly.

Daemon smirks, "Well I wouldn't exactly call these five star rooms..."

Rook growls and backhands him across the face, splitting Daemon's lip, "Your arrogance just never shuts up does it?"

"No," Daemon spits the excess blood at Rook's feet, "I don't think it does, and I don't think yours does either."

Van Rook ignores the comment and says simply, "You already know the question that I'm going to ask you, brat. Spare yourself the pain and just give us the location of your soulgem."

At the mention of the soulgem, Doc and Drew share a quick look. The concept of there being more than one soulgem was a frightening thought. They knew Zak had the first one, but if there was one more than it is possible that there are even more.

"And you already know my answer **Rookie**." Daemon hissed.

Van Rook doesn't say anything, but he puts the electricity strength on a higher setting and zaps Daemon again. Daemon groans as the electricity flashes through his body.

"Leave him be Rook!" Doc shouts angrily.

Rook turns to him and the painful electrocution came to a stop. He swaggers over to the pair and says, "Oh don't think that I forgot about you two."

"So who're torturing a young boy for this time, Rookie?" Doc sneers, playing off of Daemon's insult.

He growls, "You know that's confidential," he adds cruelly, " Besides, it could be your missing son in here next time."

Thunderstruck, Doc falters, but the comment only fans the flames of Drew's ever present rage when she's around Rook, "How would you know!"

"I know you both well enough to know that you would never leave your son behind without his little pets staying with him, and since he's not with you... Well I came to my own conclusion."

Any acidic reply that Drew spat at him went unheard by Van Rook as he turned back to Daemon, "It's a real shame though."

"What's that Rookie? That you don't have a shred common sense? If that's the case, then I agree." Daemon snaps arrogantly.

The apprentice speaks up in a gruff voice, "No, about the griffin we just blasted out of the sky a few hours ago."

All the color in Daemon's face disappears as Van Rook continues, "Yes it was a shame. It was a fine specimen to say the least."

"You BASTARD!" Daemon roars and lunges forward. Time slows and becomes his, he loses control of his rage, and the form comes to his mind. He shifts.

His form is a large red-brown reptilian beast. A rhombus shaped crest was at the start of the quill-like spikes that ran down his back all the way down to the very tip of his tail. Long blades grew from his forearms that could easily slice through armor panels on a tank. Two fangs poke from his upper jaws.

The beast surges forth with a roar. Van Rook holds his ground, and the beast is pulled back by the forces in the cell. The bindings on his arms, legs, and neck yank the beast to the floor of the cell.

He roars and hisses and growls in rage as he lashes and struggles against the shackles.

Van Rook and his apprentice knew that now that he was shifted, that they wouldn't get any information from Daemon. They turn and leave the cell block, leaving Daemon lashed on the floor.

Many moments of stunned silence follow until Doc and Drew hear a huffing, inhuman groan. They see a large tear fall from Daemon's slitted, red eyes.

"Daemon... Can you hear me?" Drew whispers softly.

He turns his misery filled gaze to her and groans again in acknowledgement. Drew continues in a soothing voice, "Listen, I don't know what the griffin girl means to you, but she's not dead. You yourself said that we were probably only out for a few hours. Right before we were captured, we found a mission cam. It had a video of this griffin getting chased by Rook," Daemon lifts his head slightly, "but she when she was about to be captured herself, another shifter saved her."

Daemon's eyes widen in shock and he shifts back to himself in a blink, "Really? You're not just telling me a lie?"

Doc smiles sadly, "No, last we saw the other shifter and her were taking care of Van Rook just fine. How do you know her anyway?"

As he pushes his back up against the cell wall, Daemon says, "Her name's Tara. She's a friend from across the country, and I met her when she came over from the military base that she and her father used to live at to visit a family friend of theirs.

Mary Bovin her name is. She was my old babysitter from when I was younger, and she was Dr. Valdeze's foster mother, thus the connection."

"Wait, **Dr. Valdeze**? As in the medical Dr. Valdeze?" Doc asks, recognizing the name of the doctor who served as the medic during the fight in Argost's house from hell, "I wasn't aware that he had a daughter."

"Yeah well, I guess she can't be much younger than Zak. Even though she's only eleven years old, she knows human anatomy as well as any seasoned doctor, and she has got to be one of the smartest people I've ever met. Not to mention that fact that she has a gift apart from shifting."

"What? She has a gift too?" Drew couldn't help but exclaim curiously.

Daemon nods, "Yeah, Tara's a healer and a darn good one too."

Doc and Drew share a look and sigh in relief. Tara was a healer, so if things worked out Zak wouldn't be wounded for long.

Suddenly there is a grating noise and Daemon's cell began to sink, like it was an elevator. He yelps in surprise and says quickly, "Don't worry! My shift brothren will come!" And then a large metal slab slides into place were the cell used to be. All becomes silent.

* * *

Short? Yes. A much needed update? Definitely. I'll try to post again soon!

Your Humble Authoress,  
Sangheili Warrior Girl


	7. Just In Case

**Chapter 7: Just in Case**

In a small comfy room, Zak slept propped up in a chair in the corner. Tara occupied the twin-sized bed that was shoved against the wall opposite of Zak. Pictures of a young boy who looked a bit like Tara and a woman adorned the tan walls of the quiet sanctuary. The light of the noon sun shines softly through the off-white drapes that hang over the windows, but it failed to wake the sleeping children.

Pictures of a young boy who looked a bit like Tara and a woman who was substantially older adorned the tan walls of the quiet sanctuary. There was one picture that was larger than the rest and in it the same woman and boy (or rather man) at least twenty years older stood smiling in the picture with five new additions.

Suddenly breaking the quiet, Tara bolts upright with a shriek of post-nightmare terror. Reacting to Tara's terror, Zak comes to with a violent start as well, and he falls out of his chair.

Realizing that she was safe, Tara looks down at Zak and asks, "Oh! Are you okay Zak?"

He twists his head to look up at her from his upside down position on the floor. He grins, "You're awake!"

She props herself on her elbows and rolls her eyes, "State the obvious much?" She smiles back, "You never answered my question."

"I'm fine. You just startled me is all."

She sits up further and turns away from him as she glances around the room. He frowns at her as he gets to his feet. They both feel unspoken inquiries emanating from the other.

She turns to him, and he asks, "What happened back there?"

Understanding perfectly what he meant, she says in an almost inaudible voice, "My past came back to haunt me."

Images of Tara's memories flash through Zak's mind, and he puts two and two together, "Past..."

Zak's memory of Lin flashes to Tara. She nods sadly, "Exactly."

Unexplainably feeling her extreme sorrow, Zak asks hesitantly, "So how did your..."

"Parents die?" Tara finishes. He nods and she sits cross-legged on the bed. He sits across from her, and she looks at him pleadingly, "Do mind if I don't say anything? I need to focus on the task at hand, and I won't be much of a help if I'm dwelling on it....." Her expression begged him to let it go.

Zak nods understandingly, "Sure. Whatever you need." He gets a feeling from Tara that she would tell him later if he asked.

He looks away from her to let his eyes scan the walls. He studied the pictures of the steadily aging boy and woman that hung from the walls until he came across the large photo with the seven people.

He looks a bit closer when he notices that the little girl in the picture looked alot like Tara.

Noticing what Zak had discovered, Tara leans up next to him and says, "I know what you're thinking, the little girl looks like me right?" She pauses, and he nods. Tara continues, "That's because she is me," she points to the little boy who had striking red hair and eyes, "and that boy is Daemon. We've been friends since I was two and he was three, not to mention he's a shifter too." She points to the man and woman standing behind her in the photo, "That man is my father, Dr. Fredric Valdeze, and that woman is my mother, Linda Valdeze."

She points to the other obviously married adults flanking Daemon, "Those two are Daemon's parents, Greg Cypher and Kelly Cypher." Tara finally points to the eldest adult in the picture, the woman in the other pictures, "That is Mary Bovin, we're kind of staying in her house right now. She was my father's foster mother, and we stop by from time to time...."

Zak heard the end of the sentence even though Tara never finished it. 'Or at least we used to....'

"I never asked before, but what are you doing here?"

Zak looks to her and says, "When I first shifted, I heard a 'call'. I figured that maybe it was part of a shifter connection, and that I could find some one else with shift powers. I don't know about you, but I was freaked out that I could grow fur and a tail."

"Ditto," Tara smiles knowingly, "We may be searching for the same person you know." Her face turns serious, "I got a call on my cell from Daemon not too long before I gained my shift powers about a week ago. He was being attacked, and he gave me a description of his attackers before the line went dead. It sounded like Van Rook from Daemon's description."

"So you think that Daemon is the person we've come to help and that Van Rook has him?"

Tara shrugs, "I'm not completely sure but it would seem that everything fits."

The sound of a door opening on the other side of the house stops Zak from saying anythinmg more. The two children hop up quietly from their spots on the bed and position themselves on either side of the door to the room. From his position on the hinge side of the door, Zak pushes it open enough to see a middle aged woman walk across the living room and walk back with a few grocery bags tucked in the crook of her arm. She had a certain controlled countenance to her stride, she wore glasses, and had black curly hair that was streaked through with silver at the temples.

Knowing what he saw, Tara relaxes steps out of the door with Zak falling in behind.

The woman turns to them and smiles broadly when she notices them enter the room. Tara walks up to her and gives her a sterdy hug, "I'm really happy to see you again Mary."

"As am I," Mary says. She tells Tara confidentailly, "Zak was rather protective of you while you were unconscious dear one."

Tara nods, "I can be thankful for that. Mary, we have a huge problem."

"What is it child?"

"I think Daemon has been captured by this brute called Van Rook. Zak and I are trying to save him." Her words came in fast succession. Mary's features turned sharp when Tara had mentioned Van Rook.

"Captured?" Zak and Tara nod, "By that traitorous little slug Van Rook, I would figure as much. Especially from him."

Zak shares a confused look with Tara and says, "What? You know Van Rook too?"

"Not only did I know him, he was a former student of mine. I remember training him and later both your parents and Daemon's parents in close combat." Mary gives them a look that was all business, "I was a Secret Scientist physical trainer. I made sure that the newest scientists were ready for any fighting that they might have to do on their expeditions. Van Rook was a student of mine like I said, but he turned his back on the rest of the Secret Scientists. He saw cryptids and the many other fields that his former allies studied as things to be sold and exploited to the highest bidder.

Mary gestures to Zak, "Solomon and Drew discovered his plan to expose the exisistance of a top secret cryptid to the public for 2 million. They were able to stop Rook and they did a good job of repairing any damage he was able to do."

"Huh... I didn't know that." Zak says broodingly.

Mary turns to Tara, "What ever help I can give to help rescue Daemon, you shall have it young ones."

"Thanks."

Bovin glances over her shoulder and says, "Follow me. There is something I must show you."

Tara and Zak look at each other, shrug, and follow suit. Bovin leads them to a door were she slides a photo to the side, revealing a security hand scanner. Bovin places her hand on it, and it scans and opens the door revealing stairs going downward. She leads them downstairs and Tara and Zak follow.

When they reached the bottom they saw various weapons on brackets hanging from the walls, wooden sparing staffs, punching bags, and other pieces of equipment.

Tara murmurs in wonder, "Wow... No wonder she never let us down here."

Zak gives her a quizzical look and she quickly explains, "Well when I was really young Daemon and I were told that this place was out of bounds. Sure we occasionally tried to open it, but once we got older we lost interest."

Bovin turns to them, "This is my little arsenal for events such as this. This is the equipment we'll be using."

"Sweet! Let's go then." Zak shouts enthusiastically.

Bovin shakes her head, "Now is not the right timing young one. You need some training and time to understand your power. Don't worry, Daemon won't be going anywhere."

Tara looks as if she is about to protest but stops when she feels Zak think that Mary was right. She concedes, "Very well."

The two shifters place a fist over their hearts and say in unison, "Teach us."

* * *

Sorry it took so long, but here it is!!!! Thank you all for the wonderful reviews. Please tell me how you liked it.

Your Humble Authoress,  
Sangheili Warrior Girl


	8. FreeDaemon!

**I'd like to give a HUGE thank you to my following readers:**

spectrobemaster -Thanks for the positive remarks and dogging me to update.  
Jinx Phantom-Thanks!  
Rain12- thanks! keep up your stories too, you're doin' great.  
turner16-thanks!  
and all of my other faithful readers who have been supporting this story. I can't do this without any of you! I love reviews so if it helps, pretend that I'm the COOKIE MONSTER and I have been deprive of cookies (reviews). Do you really want to know what happens? I thought not... Review!!!

**Chapter 8: Free Daemon!**

_"Bond talk"_

After one strenuous week of training for Zak and Tara....

Zak and Tara crouched outside the door to where Daemon was supposed to be held. Tapping a few commands into the door controls, Tara opens the door to Cellblock B.

Getting to this point had been relatively easy for the three intruders. All Mary, Zak, and Tara had to do was cut a maintenance access tunnel's hatch off and slip inside. Once inside, Bovin sliced past a few firewalls protecting Van Rook's computer system and found where the cell blocks are on the blueprints and uploaded it to Zak's datapal. Without looking at or talking to Zak, Tara confirms that the door was unlocked through their bond.

The bond was a new part to the already confusing conundrum that is their shifting powers. Zak's succeeded attempt to pull Tara back from the brink had been a catalyst that activated a connection that bonded Zak and Tara together. Through that bond they could at times feel the others emotions and it gave them an uncanny ability to be able to know the location of the other as well. It was a weak feeling, but it was there.

They both found it a little creepy at first but quickly adapted and learned to use it to their advantage.

Zak gives her an acknowledgement and as one they spun through the doors.

_Flash back........_

_"Whoa whoa whoa, so what you're telling us is that we have a bond?" Zak asked. Tara looked just as alarmed as Zak felt. _

_Their new trainer, Mary Bovin, nodded, "Well as you've described, these moments of insight with each other can't be described as anything else. Although," Bovin looks at Zak, "your mother would probably know more about this sort of thing than I do. Regardless, your training must continue, but now I'll add working with the bond into the routine."_

_After Bovin leaves for a minute, Tara looks at Zak and says excitedly, "Do you realize what we could do with this thing?"_

_He smirked, "Well of course, I could hear you screaming it in your head."_

_"Ugh... Until we get this thing under control, it's going to be a pain in the-"_

_"Zak! Tara! Catch!" _

_The two jumped as two sparing poles came flying their way. Using their enhanced reflexes, Zak and Tara snatched the poles from the air just as they started to hit the floor. Flashing Tara a predatory grin, Zak lunges forward._

_End flashback...._

Bound to a wall by energy cuffs, Daemon raises his head from its resting place on his chest to see who had entered. His glare lands on Zak first, and he begins to assess him as an enemy. Then his glare sides to Tara.

Daemon smirks as Tara began to cut through the shackles that held him to the wall, "Well you took your time."

She gives him a cocky look, "I can still leave you chained up you know."

"Shutting up now." No sound except for the sound of the laser cutter viberates the air of the room for a few moments.

"And who may I ask, are you?" Daemon questions warily after Tara pulls him to his feet.

Zak thrusts his hand toward Daemon to shake, "Name's Zak Saturday."

Daemon accepts his hand, "Daemon Cypher," he looks at Zak closely, "Yeah you're definitely their kid."

Zak tweeks his head to the side in confusion, "What the heck are you talking about?"

Daemon looks at them both with equal confusion and then he is struck with realization, "Oh, you didn't know... When I heard your name I thought you had come here for them."

Fear was clutching his gut as Zak took in what Daemon said, "My parents are HERE?" Daemon nods, "Orange and black jumpsuits? Probably spiting mad about me running away?"

"First one yes. Second one, not so much. All I gathered was that they were really worried about you... they also said something about a Fisk... Speaking of which there is a big hairy cryptid in the cell next to mine..."

The words hadn't even escaped Daemon lips by the time Zak was looking into the nieghboring cell. The large, furry creature wearily raises its head from its resting place on its chest, and seeing Zak, it garbles excitedly. Zak opens the door and rushes over to the gorilla-cat.

"Fisk! What are you doing here?" Zak asks his gorilla-cat brother as he cut the bonds that chained him to the wall with a laser cutter.

Fisk just garbles, "Ew erew gnikool rof ouy dna ew erew depmuj...."

As soon as Fisk is free of his bindings, he scoops Zak up into an enormous hug until Zak wheezes, "Fisk... you're... crushing... me...."

He puts him down and motioning with his hands, Fisk does an imitation of a wolf and looks at Zak questioningly.

Zak says, "Oh yeah... that, well I can change back and forth on my own now. I'll show you later. Where are Zon and Komodo?"

"Ir t'nod kniht yeht erew derutpac. Ir kniht yeht era kcab ta eht pihsria."

Suddenly the alarms start blaring and the blast doors seal shut. Bovin's voice crackles over Tara's radio, "Tara, Zak, Rook knows we're here. Get Daemon and the other prisoners free before he takes them to a different location."

Tara replies into the radio, "Acknowledged, we have Daemon now and were working o the others. Met you at the rendevue point."

Zak turns back to Daemon and Tara and gestures to Daemon, "If you've seen my parents then you should know were they are."

Daemon nods and points up, "Yeah they're in the cell block above us. The floor isn't too thick where I came down. Give me a few moments and I'll have us up on their floor in no time."

-------------------------------------------

With Doc and Drew...

It had been thirty seconds since the alarms started going off when Van Rook came storming into Doc and Drew's cell block with his apprentice and three security drones following close behind. He was in his full combat gear, jet pack and wrist blaster in all. The two Saturdays share a look as Rook turns the containment field off and they fall to the floor heavily. His apprentice descends upon them snaps their heavier shackles off and puts on lighter electronic handcuffs and ties a gag on their mouthes.

Neither Drew nor Doc made an attempt to break free. They became painfully aware of their limb's disorientation from a week floating in a containment field, and the drones had their blaster trained in on them.

A groaning sound echoes through the room, and the spot on the floor through which Daemon disappeared through a week before begins to sag and distort. Van Rook curses vehemently and orders the drones and his apprentice to get the two on their feet and into his airship. Just as they begin to stagger out of the room, the distorting floor panels were torn away and a echoing roar that they recognize as Daemon's along with the sound of tearing metal sounds off. The blast door slams close, and Doc and Drew are lead through various hallways and finally onto a platform where Van Rook's airship was docked.

As Van Rook's apprentice starts to push the pair aboard, a middle-aged woman dressed in a SS Spec-Ops suit and holding a baster rifle drops from the airship and lands before him and his captives. The security drones begin firing at her, and seeing that she had no cover on the ramp, Bovin dove off of the ramp and behind a metal storage box.

The apprentice smashes a fist into the back of Doc and Drew's legs causing them to drop to their knees. Reassured that his captives weren't going anywhere, the apprentice began firing back at Bovin. He looks around briefly, wondering where Van Rook was. He spots him facing the door from which they had come not a minute before. That door suddenly blew open and out of it came Tara, Daemon, Fisk, and Zak . All of them were ripping mad.

Some of the drones broke off their attack on Mary and with Rook, started firing on the four that had just arrived. The blasts rocketed toward them, and Daemon, who was the one at the front of the initial strike, threw out his hands and a red force field sprang forth. Daemon's eyes and hands glow as the field that he created absorbs and dispurses the energy.

Doc and Drew stayed kneeled where they fell in shock. Not only had Daemon escaped, but Zak was alive along with the griffin girl Tara, and their old martial arts trainer Mary Bovin was there as well. What really surprised them though was how fiercely Zak was attacking Van Rook.

He had a look of rage in his eyes, and not only that, his irises glimmered with the color of gold when they are usually dark. Zak dips around one of Rook's attacks and responds with a quick flurry of blows from the Claw. Tara jumps into the fray between Zak and Rook, and she supplies a hearty dose of kicking work and blaster fire onto Rook. While those two fought with Rook, Daemon and Fisk helped Mary mop up what was left of the drones, and they began to push the apprentice back.

Van Rook soon became enraged with Tara and Zak's nimbleness. He threw two concussion grenades and for each shifter they recieved one each. These knocked Zak and Tara away from Rook long enough so he could fly back over to where Doc and Dew were kneeling. He cocks his wrist blaster and holds it to Drew's head. The apprentice, having fallen back to Doc and Drew's position , follows Van Rook's example with Doc.

Rook's Russian voice rang out into the silence that fell upon the rescue squad when they saw the peredicament that Zak's parents were in, "If any of you make one move to stop us from leaving," He nudges Drew's head with his knukles, and he directs the last part of the comment towards Zak, "I'll kill your precious parents."

Zak growls angrily, "You have no idea what you are getting yourself into Rookie..."

"Oh really? All I have to worry about is a gorilla-cat, two little shape-shifters," Tara, Fisk, and Daemon growl, "an old woman," Bovin 'harumphs', "and a small piece of insignificant trash like you.... So no, I'm not worried."

Zak's expression turns dark as the apprentice starts to drag Doc and Drew onto the airship, "Oh but you should be."

But Van Rook didn't hear the threat for he was busy retracting the ramp and taking off. Doc and Drew look back at Zak and see him mouth to them, "I'm sorry... I'm soo sorry."

The airship takes off and leaves the rag-tag group on the roof.

"What do we do now?" Tara asks Zak through their bond warily.

"I.. I don't know." But then an idea strikes him. Zak pulls out his datapal and opens the GPS screen.

"What are you doing now?" Daemon asks. Tara smiles as she catches on to what Zak was doing.

"There," Zak says pointing to a spot on the screen triumphantly, "I have the loction of my family's airship. We can go there to regroup."

* * *

Thanks for reading everyone! Now..... REVIEW! HAHAHAHAHAHA! *runs away laughing manically*

Taking the Fight to Argost. Sangheili Warrior Girl out.


	9. Wolfie's Uncle

Since I really haven't been updating as often as I should, this chapter is an apology for my readers. Thanks for not losing patience with me!

As much as I wish that I did, I don't own the Secret Saturdays, but I do own Tara and Daemon.

**Chapter 9: Wolfie's Uncle**

In the forest south of Ashford, Zak, who is in his waheela form, leads the group to the Saturday airship. Tara follows above in griffin form while Daemon keeps up with Zak's quick pace in his bladerith form. (the giant lizard in chapter six) Mary rides on Daemon's back since the others were moving too fast to keep up on foot, and Zak and Tara's forms were not large enough yet to carry a full grown human on their backs. Fisk follows through the trees.

Just as the light of dawn slowly began to peek above the horizon, Zak, Daemon, Fisk, and Mary all seem to materialize from the shadows and they enter the clearing where the airship was landed. Daemon helps Bovin off of his back and changes back. Zak follows suit.

Suddenly Daemon is tackled to the ground by an invisible force with an enraged hiss. From above came Zon's call and Tara's answering piercing screech. Zak looks up to see Zon and Tara collide in midair and tumble ground-ward, both of them fighting for leverage. Zak yanks the Claw from its place on his belt and activating his cryptid powers he shouts, "Zon, Komodo stop! It's me, Zak, and these guys are with me!" A couple of meters from the ground Tara and Zon had forced themselves apart and now they stood facing off hissing at each other. Komodo scrambles off of Daemon, and flings himself at Zak.

Zak goes down with an 'omph!', and Komodo gurggles in a distressed manner as he looks down at at Zak. Zak wheezes as the 250 pound dragon sits on his chest, "It's good to see you too buddy..."

Komodo gives a satisfied huff and crawls off of Zak.

Tara lays down her guard and shifts back, and Zon walks over to Zak and with a lonely creen she rubs her head against his arm. Zak puts the Claw away, and Fisk and Komodo join Zon at Zak's side, just being happy about his return. With a smile Zak says to Mary, Daemon, and Tara, "These two are Zon," he points to the winged cryptid, "and Komodo. They're a part of my family."

Daemon and Mary just give sheepish waves. Komodo hisses in response. Zon and Tara stood staring each other in the eye, their stances challenging.

Zak takes in a sharp breath when he realizes that they could attack each other again. His fingers barely brush the shaft of his weapon when Tara's determined voice echoes strongly in his head, "Don't. Just let us do as we must."Zak hesitates for half a second but decides to have faith in Tara's actions. He waves to the others to go to the airship. Mary and Daemon leave, but Fisk and Komodo stay, curious as to how Zon will react to this strange human female.

Unexpectedly, Zon takes a step forward and another and another, until the cryptid and human where practically beak to nose. They stay like this for a few moments, and then Zon nudges Tara's hand in a sign of primal respect, 'I help the young one (Zon's reference to Zak), you are now my charge as well.' Zon looks over to Zak, creens approvingly, and flies toward the airship.

Tara continues to stare after Zon's form when Zak comes to her side and says, dumbfounded, "Zon's never done that before with anyone, not even my own parents."

Zak's overall concept of how Zon sees people apart from him flows to Tara, and she asks, "Any idea why she'd consider accepting me as an equal?"

Zak shrugs as they walk to the airship, "Well cryptids are sensitive to certain energies, so maybe she sensed our bond and decided to test you to see if you deserved her respect. Anyway she respects you like she does me, and as I said before, she has never acted this way before."

The two walk up the ramp into the command bridge where they find the rest of the group waiting in the half lit room.

"So you said you have a pla-" Daemon starts off but suddenly his stomach roars indignantly, saying, 'Hey! Don't forget about me down here! You haven't feed me anything good in two weeks!' On que, everyone's stomach rumbles in the same manner except for Zon and Komodo's, whose bellies were well feed with wild fish and rodents.

Zak chuckles, "I do have an idea, but I think it can wait until our stomachs aren't growling every five seconds and interrupting us." Zak gestures to Fisk and Komodo, "Come on guys, we'll go raid the kitchen." His brothers fall in behind him and they disappear down the hall.

"He seems a lot happier than a few hours ago." Daemon comments.

"Well you will be too when you see your family again." Tara comments bitterly, glaring at the floor.

Daemon shoots a helpless look to Mary, and all she can do is hang her head and sigh. The atmosphere in the room becomes too awkward for conversation, so Daemon goes about checking the blaster he swiped from Van Rook's abandoned armory for tracking devices and what not. Tara sets her SS-M12AAR (Secret Scientist-Mark 12 Adaptive Assault Rifle) on the holotable before her, takes out her new KA-BAR combat knife that Mary gave her to replace her old knife, and proceeds to twirl it about her fingers in a bored manner, whilst Mary leisurely checks the amount of laser ammo in her own M12AAR.

Suddenly the noise of a jetpack flying in and landing outside shatters the silence. Tara quietly swaps the knife with her M12AAR and aims it towards the door, joining Daemon and Mary to form a three man fire squad aiming to take out the obvious threat. A muscular form comes up the ramp and stops in the shadows.

Tara calls to Zak via bond, "We have company on the bridge. Get here ASAP!"

The shadowy form, which has a decidedly male voice, says as it cranks its arm back to throw something, "What hell are you doing here?!"

"Funny, we were about to ask you the same thing..." Daemon retorts as his weapon clicks readiness.

Both side were about to open up on each other when Zak comes sprinting into the bridge with Fisk and Komodo. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa , whoa! Everyone stop and lay down your weapons." All sides warily place their guns on the floor, each one watching for the other side to pull a fast one.

Tara fixes Zak with a hard look, "I'm under the assumption you know this person, huh Wolfie?"

"Well he should." the figure says as he steps forward into the light, "I am his uncle after all." And lo and behold, there stood Doyle. (*fan girl squeal* in all his infinite cartoony hotness.)

Zak comes forward, "What are you doing here Doyle? Last we heard of you, you were in South America."

"I was, but I got a distress signal from the airship. Sorry it took me so long to get here, but before I could get a lock on the signal, it stopped and I couldn't find you directly." Doyle looks at everyone curiously, "Ummm... The signal I got came from Doc's tech gauntlet a week ago and if he's calling me for help, you know it's bad. Care to explain what's going on?"

"Sure, I'll get you filled in while we eat." Zak disappears down to the kitchen again mumbling, "A whole week..."

Zak returns minutes later with the freeze dried food piled high in his arms, "Hope you don't mind freeze dried, everything else in the refridgerator is bad by now."

"Dude after two weeks of eating that slop that Van Rook was giving me, this is like a five star feast." Daemon says happily as Zak tosses him a water bottle and a meal package.

"Van Rook?" Doyle asks.

"And he's part of the explaination," Tara says, tearing into her meal.

Zak launches into his story starting from discovering the soulgem's becon, running away, meeting Tara, training with Mary, infiltrating Van Rook's base to rescue Daemon, and Van Rook taking his parents, all with out mentioning their shifting abilities.

"To travel that far that fast with out a vehicle of your own, you must've been one effective hitch hiker." Doyle comments idly.

Zak, Tara, and Daemon share an uneasy look and Zak says, "Uncle Doyle we have something you have to see to believe."

The three shifters hop to their feet and walk out of the airship, leaving Doyle to decide if he wanted to know or not. Mary speaks, "You may wish to know what they have to show you Doyle. It is an important linchpin in the story you have just heard." She goes back to eating her meal.

Doyle follows his nephew out to the clearing and waits for the show to begin. Zak says, "This is why I had to run away, why Van Rook captured Daemon, and attempted to capture Tara. You see, we are shifters."

And with that Zak, Daemon, and Tara shift as one, and Doyle stands there stupified. Zak gauges his expression, his tail waving back and forth slowly. He trots up to Doyle and places a paw on his knee to assure him that he was truly there. Zak sits on his haunches next to him and waits for his uncle to speak.

"Well I've seen a lot of weird things ever since I started working for Van Rook and even more after I joined the family, but this takes the cake. Do your folks know about this?"

Zak backs up a bit and shifts back, "I'm pretty sure when they found my note in the kitchen, the checked the security cams to see what was going on. Van Rook has my parents, and I need your help."

Doyle grins cockily, "You didn't even need to ask mini man. I find it rather entertaining to mess with Rook, count me in."

Zak and Tara give an enthusiastic whoop when she turns back.

Doyle adds, "Think I know where he's taking them, and I have the coordinates. But we're not going in guns blazing and improvising the entire way, so we're going to need a plan." He crosses his arms across his chest, "You think you can stick to that mini man?"

Zak nods sullenly, "Just because I did it once doesn't mean I'll do it again."

Daemon snickers roughly in his bladerith form and Tara tries hard to surpress a smirk. He looks over at them, "Yeah, yeah, laugh it up scaly."

* * *

Yeah this chapter was a bit rushed but it had to be posted ASAP.

Taking the Fight to Argost, Sangheili Warrior Girl out.

P.S. This is my last week of class, so updates should be more frequent.


	10. Things I Didn't Say

This is the last time I'll say it, I do not own The Secret Saturdays!

Also, some part of this chapter are inspired by songs from the movie Brother Bear, one of my fav childhood movies. Look up Now ay Out by Phil Collins and listen to it. You may see why I got my inspiration for this chappie.

**Chapter 10: Things I Didn't Say**

_song qoute Phil Collins- No Way Out:  
There's no way out  
__of this dark place,  
No hope. No future.  
I know I can't be free.  
But I can't see another way  
Oh and I can't face another day._

After finalizing the plans with the rest of the group, Tara plodded down the hall to one of the extra rooms on the airship. Dead on her feet and fatigued, she drags herself through the door and collapses onto a bunk. A sigh escapes her lips as soon as she hits the matress, and she pulls her zipper hoodie off in an effort to get more comfortable.

The sound of Daemon clomping down the hall to Zak's room fills the silence and soon fades, followed closely by three other footsteps that Tara recognizes through the door as Fisk, Komodo, and Zak's.

As Zak drew closer to her door, Tara senses his sorrow and whispers symmpathetically, "Do you wish to talk about it?"

Zak's foot falls stop just outside her door and the others continue on. The door beeps and slides open to reveal Zak leaning against the door frame. Tara throws her legs over the side of her bunk and pats the spot next to her.

Zak smiles half heartedly and plops down beside her.

His smile vanishes, "I just never thought I'd lose them, you know?"

"Only too well." She gives him a hopeful look, "With the plan you've come up with, they'll be back on the airship this time tomorrow night."

"Life suddenly seems so complicated compared to about two weeks ago... But I guess... I can't really talk..." he says gesturing weakly towards Tara.

She sighs, "Are you still curious about that aren't you? About what happened to my parents?"

"I won't lie, very."

She folds her legs cross-legged before her and rests her elbows on her knees, "Where to begin?" She pauses for a while and starts, "I suppose I'll start with who they were. My mom was a US Marine Corps engineer for four years after she got out of college and joined the Secret Scientists after that, and my dad was a medical doctor with the Secret Scientists along with her. I recall them mentioning a Mr. and Mrs. Saturday once while I was very young. Never really realized who they were," she manages a minuscule smile,"That is until a week ago."

She continues, "They didn't take me with them when they went on their missions outside of the states much, but when they finally did take me to another part of the world, we went to Saudi Arabia. We were going with Daemon and his parents to help out at an archeological site. My mom kept the machinery in tip top shape, dad took the position of chief medical officer for the dig, and Daemon's folks were guarding the archeologists to insure that no one attacked them. We were there for two months." Images and memories of Tara and Daemon hanging out and exploring the dig site and ruins uncovered by either man or nature's efforts drift lazily to Zak's mind, and they abruptly come to a freeze.

"But when the second month came to a close we were attacked. A group of extremists, who for some reason resented that the excavation team was digging at all, attacked the camp during dusk. Daemon had just left to go get his dart gun so we could play war and he had left me at the edge of the camp near the ruins." Like a vivid video, Tara's memory dances before his mind's eye again, and Zak could recognize a few images from the night they were bonded, "I waited alone in the dim lights of the lanturns until the first shots rang out. Suddenly two tents on the other side of the camp burst into flame and the sound of automatic guns firing replaced any noise in the camp."

She begins to shake, "Soon masked men were running through the camp, killing any person they saw. Daemon's parents along with the other site guards were doing the best they could but there were just too many. A group of three of these masked men saw me and began to chase after me, so I fled to the underground ruins." Her voice begins to quiver with fear, "I hid in the large central chamber, hoping that the darkness would hide me. My hope was in vain. The group came in with torches and lead by an additional man. They saw me and approached me. The leader said, 'It's just a worthless American whelp, kill her.' They were about to kill me when my mom came sprinting into the room." Zak sees that tears were now streaming down Tara's face and he realizes, down his own as well.

Tara buries her face in her hands, unaware that she is projecting her memory to Zak. Her memory rages into Zak's mind like a flash flood and he sees everything in crisp and clear details, and soon he finds himself in the same ruins kneeling on the floor alongside a seven year old Tara. He watches with her as her mother comes into the room like a raging grizzly bear. She looks like a thirty year older version of Tara, and she was as tall as his own mother.

Linda Valdeze freezes when she sees the zealots' weapons leveled at Tara, then in a maternal roar, Linda weaves forward and closes on the nearest man before he even realizes that she was there. At this point Zak (Whatever Tara knows or feels from her memory transfers directly to Zak's understanding.) realizes that she's in the hold of her protective motherly instincts and her kill-or-die reaction instilled apon her as a marine. She grabs his gun arm and twists it so that the joint is starting to bend the wrong way, and as she takes the weapon she slams her elbow down on it, shattering the bones.

The man staggers back with a scream which is soon tranformed into a wet gurgle when Linda slashes the bayonet at the end of the weapon across his throat. His commrades round on her by the time he hits the floor and open fire.

Linda drops to the ground in a roll and swipes her feet through the two left of the original three. They hit the ground, and she pops up shooting them with the last four bullets in the clip.

The leader is still standing a way off with a sidearm in his hand pointing at Tara, but her mother hadn't seen him when she had initially come into the room.

Tara cries out fearfully, "Mom behind you!"

Linda turns and seeing him, lunges at the leader. He turns the gun on her and the barrel flashes in the dim light of the room. Linda groans in agony as the bullet takes her down, and Tara screams a tortured wail as she watches her mother fall. Zak even finds himself yelling,"No!" along with her.

The leader decides that the girl screaming on the floor isn't worth the trouble and leaves, dropping the torch that he held in his hand. The second he is gone Tara is on her feet and staggering as fast as her distraught gait could get her to her wounded mother.

Tara drops to her knees beside her mom and cries, "Hang on mom! I turned on my becon and dad will be here soon. Stay with me!"

Linda groans in responce but says nothing. Tara lays her hands over the fatal wound as if willing it to heal and whispers brokenly again, "Don't leave me. Please..."

Slowly a blue light begins to permiate from the circle on which they all where laying or kneeling and begins to spread through the strange Summerian runes depicting cryptids that are etched on the floor, walls and ceiling. Soft but unintelligable voices mummer ancient guidence to the distruaght young one. Suddenly the light begins to also flow from Tara's hands and it fills her eyes. Linda's condition becomes agonizingly clear as Tara's newly awakened power shows her that her mother would die no matter what was done.

Calling apon her strength, Tara instinctively looses her power on Linda's nervous system, eliminating her pain as she breathes her last. As the lights leave her eyes, Tara's mom reaches up with the last of her strength to lovingly brush Tara's cheek before she dies.

The light slowly fades away and Tara is left in total darkness. Unknown to Tara at that time her father was nowhere to be found, MIA and/or KIA....

Suddenly Zak gets pulled from the memory and he sees Tara staring at him with a regretful, sorrowful, and pleading expression. Her eyes are wide, realizing what she had just done to him, she sobs, "Oh Zak... I- I'm so sorry. You shouldn't have had to see that."

Zak cries with her as he sympathetically pulls her into a hug and senses how damged and broken she truly is. She buries her head in his shoulder. Feeling every ounce of her aguish, he says, "You shouldn't have either."

"I'm so alone Zak. Everything I ever loved, everything that was ever right in my life is gone..."

He shakes his head, "That's not true Tara. You still have Daemon and Mary, they all love you." He adds, "And now you have me too."

She pushes away gently and looks him in the eyes, "Really?"

"Of course. I'm not going to leave you anywhere. Who knows, maybe I can talk my folks into letting you live with us!"

She smiles, "I'd like that."

In an effort to cheer her up, Zak silently shows Tara some memories of his, Komodo, and Fisk's blunders and adventures until she giggles softly. For a moment though, Zak's mind wanders to Lin, and Tara looks at him sadly.

He quickly rebukes himself, "I need to get over this! This was nothing compared to what happened to you." His gaze drops to the floor, but in his heart he knows he'll never let Lin go and that was just a blatant lie to both himself and Tara.

Tara's sad expression transforms to that of a young woman's courage and resolve, "No." She lifts his chin with her fingers, "Of all the things my mother had told me, this is important to now. 'No two griefs should ever be compared. They are neither the same nor different.' All we can do is help each other through it."

While the rest of the airship sleeps, the two eleven year old children swear a an oath of comradeship, trust, and loyalty to each other, bonding them by both their word and circumstance of their original bond.

_Song qoute- same song:  
You've given me the strength to see  
Just where my journey ends.  
You've given me  
__the strength to carry on._

_I see the path  
From this dark place.  
I see my future.

* * *

_

So what do you think of the first chapter of my summer? I know it's quite sad, but it was an important TaraZak friendship building chapter. I hope you enjoyed it and if you did, please reveiw!!!:D

Taking the Fight To Argost, Sangheili Warrior Girl out.


	11. Light Fuse, Run Away

**Let us all take a moment of silence to remember Micheal Jackson. Father, son, brother, excentric pop star, music icon...... You will be missed.**

**Chapter 11: Light Fuse, Run Away**

Zak and Tara stand silently in the bridge, the door to the outside wide open. Both of them hold M12AARs and they have a bag full of various gagets strapped to their changing harnesses as well as a pack of weapon augmentations and ammo strapped to their legs. They wear clear green tactical glasses.

Suddenly Mary's voice announces through the com in the visors, "We're over the drop zone in five... four... three... two... one..."

Zak and Tara jump out of the door and dive towards the outline of Van Rook's compound. For a brief moment, Zak lets the rush of the air clear his head before he shakes it away and manuevers closer to Tara.

Tara carefully adjusts her posture to bring herself closer to Zak as she watches the numbers flashing across her visor. Her and Zak's visors' display their speed, altitude, the angle at which they were falling compared to the ground, and it high lights the 30x30 ft sensor blind spot on the roof of the compound.

"This is going to be interesting... Are you sure you can do this?" Zak asks his teammate.

"Positive, and if I can't, you and Doyle will get to show us your," He feels her smirk wryly, " improvising abilities... We're coming in range, grab onto me!"

Zak glides closer to her and grabs her shoulders. She pulls her arms and legs to pick up speed, and he brings himself full up against her so the air wouldn't rip them apart.

Tara shifts, flaring her wings to slow their descent. A shock of primal fear shoots through Tara when she can't pull up and fly undeterred with Zak on her back. Her instincts take over, and she tries, not to dislodge Zak from his spot on her back, but to frantically change the dangerous course that they were dropping along.

Zak realizes that Tara was going to take them off course, "Tara, it's okay! You're just supposed to slow us down, remember?"

Her griffin instincts ebb away slightly but the hold is still enough to make her forget the objective of this phase of the plan, "No! We'll both end up as bloody splatters on the ground!"

"Tara. Trust me."

With those words Tara yanks herself out of the hold of her instincts and corrects their course. Zak takes over monitering their drop, when he notices a change in their course. He runs their angle and speed through the calculator and projects it on his holographic display.

"Tara, we need to change course or we'll be going right into those sensors. If you can change our angle enough, I can pull us into the safe zone with the Claw."

"I'll try." Tara repositions her wings, sacrificing maneuverability for lift, "Rwwwaaarh!!!" 

She gives one last upward heave before they pass the point were all of the flapping in the world wouldn't have made a difference. Her effort pays off and she is able to land them handstand style on the edge of the safe zone.

Zak topples off over Tara's head, and Tara continues to balance on her front claws, teetering between the safe zone and her back paws falling back into the sensors. Unable to maintain her balance, she shifts back and begins to fall towards the sensors.

Zak quickly jumps to his feet and whips the Claw at her and snags her foot. He pulls her into the safe zone.

Tara flips over onto her back from Zak's save, and she groans, "Thanks."

He helps her to her feet, "Sorry. would've done something else but you were already falling-"

"It's all good. Tell Doyle that we've landed. I'll check our equipment."

"Hey Doyle, we're in...."

------

"Mary, are you in position?"

"Ready and waiting for your signal Doyle." Mary answers.

Zak's voice crackles on the radio, "Hey Doyle, we're in. Just give us two minutes before you join us to take down the aerial defenses, place the detpacks, and offline the sensors."

"Right. Good luck mini man."

-------

Fisk, Doc, and Drew run down one hallway after another following Doyle to the squad's rendevue point. Drew was about to beat Doyle senseless and make him into a skin throw rug when she heard that Zak and Tara were somewhere else in the compound by themselves.

Flashback.... (a few minutes ago)

"They're where?!?!" Drew roars, her fire-sword in her hand and the tip of the sword keeping Doyle against the wall. He had just released her and Doc, and told her of the plan.

"Ack... I told you, they're just taking care of a few obstacles and then they'll meet up with us! Here," he hands Drew a video phone, "call him with that, but if we don't start moving, this op is going to get more difficult."

Drew lets him go and attempts to call Zak, "Zak, Zak are you there?"

*Static*

"Come on mini man, not the time to have communication silence."

Drew tries again, "Zak, Tara answer me." She looks at Doc worriedly, "I'm not getting a thing."

Doc says, "Doyle, you said something about a rendevue point. Perhaps their phone was damaged and maybe they're already there."

Flashback ends......

They skid to a halt at a large storage room. Cages, crates, and ten inactive drones line the edge of the walls, and two other doors were to the left and right of where they came in. A large elevator was on the wall opposite of them.

"Come on. They should be here already..." Doyle growls to himself.

"Now I'm worried," Drew says gripping her firesword tightly, "What if they came across Rook?"

Doyle shakes his head, "They didn't, or else we'd have heard some kind of alarm by now and those drones wouldn't be inactive."

Suddenly the sound of metal slightly sliding across metal comes from above them. They look up and see Zak and Tara jumping down through an air vent. They land one after the other with two surprisingly quiet 'thuds'.

"Zak!" Doc and Drew shout in relief, and Zak shouts, "Mom! Dad!"

He runs up to them and hugs them feircely. Fisk joins in on the hug and Zak says, "I missed you guys so much."

The adults and Fisk release him. Drew asks, "Why did you run away? You know we would've helped you understand these new powers."

Zak shakes his head, "It wasn't that, honest," He looks over to Tara, who was watching the reunion with a sad smile on her face, "Some things I needed to find alone. My fellow shifters needed me."

Doc notices Daemon's absence through out the entire op, "What happened to Daemon?"

Tara speaks up, "Turns out he was hurt worse than we thought from those two weeks with Rook. He'll be fine, but he was weak from lack of sleep and decent food so we were able to convince him to get back to his folks." She holds out her hand, "I'm sorry, my name is Tara."

Doc and Drew shake it in turn. "We've heard about you from Daemon."

"Alright now that that's settled," Doyle says, "can we get moving?"

"Oh you and the prisoners won't be going anywhere, traitor."

Rook's apprentice steps out of the elevator. They all snap their weapons up and ready for battle.

"Get out of our way lapdog, and we won't hurt you too bad." Doc warns sadistically.

"Ha! No chance." He activates the drones lining the wall.

"Take them alive," he orders. The drones weapons switch from lasers to electronic stunning weaponry and attack the group.

Doc charges the apprentice with a roar, 'I've been waiting to do this all week!' The rest of them fend off the mechanical jailers.

Doc tackles the apprentice to the ground and they grapple for dominence in the fight. The trainee kick Doc in the gut and jumps to his feet, Doc recovering quickly and following not far behind. A stray drone attacks Doc, forcing him to back away from his opponent and to defend himself.

Drew then takes over beating the crap out of Rook's apprentice, and she thinks to herself, 'This for hurting Zak, you son of a bitch!'

The drones at this base were stronger than the ones at the American base. They have stronger armor, weapons, an they were far more durable. They split Tara and Zak off from the rest of the group and force the two preteens away.

Tara mind shouts to Zak as one flanks him, "Zak on your six!"

He spins around in time to see a drone shoot a tazer at him. He drops to the ground with a groan.

Drew turns to see Zak drop and yells, "Zak!"

Using Drew's distraction, the apprentice leaps back and chucks a concussion grenade at her. It explodes and sends her back to Doyle, Doc, and Fisk.

"Stop." The drones halt their attack.

Tara freezes in place as Van Rook's apprentice aims a firearm pistol at her. He looks over to Doc, Doyle, Drew and Fisk, "Drop your weapons and slide them away. If any of you try anything," he tightens his finger around the gun's trigger ever so slightly, "the griffin girl dies."

Reluctantly the adults lay down their arms and push them across the floor. As security drones come forward to bind their hands, Doc and Drew cast their gazes toward Tara, who was still frozen in fear. They feel a pang of hurt for the girl who has been aiding Zak in his mission, and they both think something along the lines of, 'Leave her be... She doesn't deserve to die.'

In her mind, the memory of staring down a barrel of a gun replays over and over in Tara's head. She can feel her hard won self control, and emotional wall starting to crack as Rook continues to aim the weapon at her.

The adults are herded unwillingly into a cage, and once the door is locked, the apprentice growls at Tara, "You have been a thorn in my side for too long, girl. I don't care about how much Argost wants both you and that boy alive, Rook gave me the okay to kill one of you and maybe Argost'll still pay him as promised if I turn the lizard boy to him. You die now!"

Fisk growls in rage as he smashes uselessly against the bars of the cage. 'I can't let someone close to my brother die!' the Lemurian thinks to himself as he rails against the renforced prison. The others were too shocked to say a word.

In all of the confusion of the fight, everyone forgot about Zak who was back into consciousness enough to hear the trainee's rant. The last sentence and Tara's terror finally yanks him out of his stupor and onto his feet. 'Like hell she is!'

He yanks the tazer wires out of his chest. All things disappear from Zak's consciousness except for himself, Van Rook's apprentice, and Tara, his actions dedicated to getting the gun away from the apprentice. "LEAVE... HER... ALONE!" a voice that didn't fully belong to Zak tares from his throat as he decimates the distance between himself and Rook's apprentice.

The occupants of the cage and Van Rook turn their attention toward the shout and they see Zak charging at the apprentice, his eyes turned gold like his form's eyes. The man realizes that what the young Saturday was doing and turns the gun towards him to take him down.

It was deja vu for Tara, and Drew was the only other person who was registering what was happening. The two females scream, "No!"

He fires the gun, but the bullet never hits its target. A fraction of a second before the mercenary pulled the trigger, Zak had dropped down to all fours to dodge, and then with a roar that's sustained through to his wolf form, he shifts, "RRRRWWAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRR!!!!"

Zak leaps at the apprentice, clamps his jaws around the arm holding the gun, and yanks his aim away. Forgetting about his strength in this form, Zak snaps the bones in the coward's forearm in two and leaves deep teeth marks in his flesh. The trainee screams in agony clutching his arm. Fueled by his rage at what that beast of a man was going to do to Tara, Zak releases him and takes out the drones, which were just starting to react, with staggering speed. Seconds later the drones lay in crumpled heaps on the floor. Doc, Drew, Fisk and Doyle stand there with their mouths hanging open at Zak's predatory savagery.

Panicking now, the apprentice reaches unsteadily for his dropped pistol only for Zak to kick it out of his reach. He looks up at the seething preteen-turned-waheela and gasps through the pain, "You... I- I killed you..."

Zak growls and headbutts him into the elevator which closes after he slides through the door.

Finally able to move, Tara strides over to Zak's side and reaches out to touch his shoulder. Doc and Drew try to warn her that, Zak or not, the seething waheela could turn on her in this state, but they were too late. She kneels at his side and places her hand on his shoulder.

His parents hold their breaths as Zak's head snaps in her direction, but instead of attacking her, Zak leans his head into hers and whines softly.

In his head he says to her, "Are you alright?"

"He never got a shot off at me Zak."

He pulls back and a grumble rises from his chest, "You know what I mean," He sits on his haunches and places his paw first over her forehead then her heart before pulling away, "Will you be okay in there though?"

Tara runs the fingers of her right hand through the fur on his neck, seeking an answer in his comforting presence. She smiles softly and says aloud, "I'll be fine."

Doyle speaks up first, "As touching as this is, we'd like to get out of here."

The two preteens look over to the caged adults, blush, chuckle nervously, and Zak shifts back. Doc and Drew share an 'aw-our-little-boy-is-growing-up' look (You know, the one that you see them do in the show!) as the to preteens separate to their tasks. Tara jogs over to collect the rescue team's weapons and Zak goes to work opening the door.

Zak studies the locking mechanism and says, "Doyle, do you still have your laser cutter?"

"Yeah." Doyle maneuvers his hands and is able to grab the cutter and toss it to Zak.

He opens the door and cuts the bindings off of their hands. As soon as her cuffs are off, Drew wraps him in a hug, "Don't ever do that again Zak!"

He only responds by hugging her back. He would usually say something along the lines of "okay mom" or "I promise". Confused, she looks at his expression and realizes that he wasn't about to make a promise that he could never keep.

Tara comes back and rearms the squad.

Minutes Later.....

The group burst out of the door leading to the outside. Doyle shouts into the radio, "Mary, now."

In seconds the airship is landed just at the edge of the football field sized platform. The side door opens and she motions for them to hurry. The group sprints toward the craft, ducking behind air duct ports along the way.

Suddenly, Tara catches movement in the corner of her eye and looks closer. There stood Van Rook to the right of them, he had a sniper in his hand, and he was ready to fire it. Tara quickly traces his line of fire.

Tara tackles Doc from her position behind him just before the bullet leaves the gun. Due to her slight form, she only was able to make him stagger forward a foot and a half, and she was able to get both herself and him out of the main path of the bullet. But not completely, so the bullet skimmed across the top of Tara's skin, leaving a diagonal cut across her back.

They fall behind a air duct. Doc is bewildered, and Tara hisses in pain too soft for him to hear. She quickly blocks off Zak in the bond, so he wouldn't know that she was wounded. Worrying about her was the last thing Zak needed to do right now.

"What was that all about?" Doc asks, failing to notice the blood now seeping through Tara's now tattered t-shirt. The rest of the group was in cover a ways off.

Tara feels Zak's probing question but she pushes him back and says through the video phone to him as well as Doc, and she gestures to Rook's position, "Sniper. Rook was about to blow your heart right out of your chest. I'm a healer, but I can't heal you that fast."

Doc nods to her gratefully, "Thanks."

Tara pulls a mirror out of her bag and uses it to peek around the corner. Rook was reloading and was watching for them. "You guys get to the airship. It's time for me to play 'Who Can Get Who First' with Rook."

"But-" Doc protests but Tara cuts him off as she puts the sniper augmentation on her rifle.

"Go! I'll cover you!" She casts him a 'You-know-I'm-right-so-do-what-I-say-damn-it!' glare.

He gives in (he's gotten the same look from Drew many times and learned to listen, even if it's another woman, or girl in Tara's case.) and sprints toward the airship with the others. Just as Van Rook was about to take a second shot, Tara's own shot hits home and makes his sniper rifle explode in his face. Tara jumps to her feet and runs for it. Zak and Fisk wait for her in the doorway and they pull her into the craft once she gets close enough.

Zak pushes the door control, "Okay we're all in! Punch it!"

"Right!" Maryy floors it and they zoom away.

Tara shoves a detonator remote at Zak and gasps through her pain and her trying to catch a breath, "Do you... want... to do... the honors?"

"Sure." He pushes the button and a huge explosion blows half of Rook's base to kingdom-come, "Now I figure we're half way even."

Exhausted and pained, Tara releases the bond block from Zak.

Doc and Drew notice his expression change sharply from a pleased smrik to a pained grimace. His expression changes again to that of anger and he gets to his feet.

"Zak, what's wrong?" they ask in unison.

He ignores them and kneels next to Tara, who was still winching in pain, "You're hurt...."

* * *

**Thanks for reading this chapter! Please review!**

**Also, Tara is supposed to be a tough character as a result of her past. Please tell me if I am achieving this effect properly, and if I'm not, tell me how I can make it so. Zak is fully aware (for once) of Tara's mental and emotional damage and will be helping her recover her child-like quirks that she lost after the attack. Same question as above. Please tell me if anyone was OOC!**


	12. The Offer

**Chapter 12: The Road Home**

Zak kneels by Tara's side, who was still wincing in pain, "You're hurt.... Why did you block me off Tara?" A hurt expression on his features.

She looks him in the eyes and puts on an unconvincing brave face, "Because getting everyone out of there alive was more important than a little scratch..." She groans in pain.

Zak looks at the wound and makes a noise deep in his throat of a mixture of revulsion and rage. "What?" Doc and Drew ask together. Zak quickly gets her to her feet, ready to bring her to the med room on the airship.

Doc, Doyle, Drew, and Fisk don't see any injuries from the front but when they see her back, they gasp in horror. Tara's "little scratch" was a deep gash across her back and blood now covered her back and soaked her shirt. The flow of blood was already starting to slow though, due to her swift healing as a shifter and her own healing ability besides that.

"Whoa... That's not a scratch..." Doyle says wide eyed.

Zak says to his shocked gorilla-cat brother, "Fisk, could you go get one of my extra T-shirts?"

Fisk garbles, "Okay," and goes to get the shirt.

Tara sways on her feet and almost drops, but Zak catches her and with up most care, picks her up onto his back piggy-back style. Doc and Drew shake off their horror and follow Zak to the medical room. Once there, Doc helps Zak sit Tara up on one of the treatment beds, and Drew gets supplies for stitching up the wound out.

Drew comes back over to Tara's side with the supplies and cuts the tattered back of Tara's shirt off to give her better access. She cleanses the wound with much hissing from Tara and begins to stitch up the wound.

Zak takes up a position in front of Tara to help her. Half conscious, Tara reaches out for him and places her hands on Zak's shoulders for support as the pain increases while Drew treats her. As Doc looks on, he notices that while Tara's eyes were glazed with pain so to was Zak's, although not quite to the degree as hers were.

Soon it's all over, and Tara sags against Zak's support, but she maintains consciousness. Fisk returns with an orange t-shirt and hands it to Drew.

"Thank you Fiskerton."

Zak switches spots with his mom and turns away from Tara. Drew takes Zak's place and helps Tara out of her tattered and bloody shirt into the new one. Drew finishes by giving Tara a shot of morphine, and Doc scoops her up to bring her to the same room that she slept in the night before. He gently puts her down on her stomach to avoid hurting her back.

Thinking that she is already unconscious, Zak, Drew, Doc, and Fisk start to leave the room. They all stop when Tara whispers, "Zak?"

They all turn around to listen, and Zak turns back to her, "Yeah?"

She grins tiredly as she slips off, "I told you they'd be back... here... tonight...." Not finishing her sentence, she falls asleep.

"Yeah *yawn* you were right," he says quietly. He softly whispers to her through their bond, "Sleep, you deserve it." Zak leaves the room followed by his parents and Fisk.

He looks to his mom as the door slides closed, "She'll be alright, right?" Zak knew that his bond partner would be fine from some subconscious knowledge of wounds that Tara knew about through her medical training, but he wanted to hear it out loud.

"As long as we keep that wound from getting infected, she'll be fine. She'll be in a lot of pain in the next week or so though," Drew tells him truthfully. She watches Zak flinch, "Truthfully Zak, I'm surprised that she hadn't gone into shock back on that roof with a gash like that."

Doc asks his human son, "Why did she do that though? Had that shot been half a centimeter lower, it would have killed her!"

Zak looks up at him and says as they all walk, "She did it as much for all of us as she did for you as a person, dad."

"What do you mean Zak?" Drew asks him softly.

He sighs, his tiredness beginning to really creep up, "She knows how important you guys are to me. She knows that if any one of our pack members," Zak unknowingly refers to their family as 'our pack', "got killed, it would shatter us and hurt us greatly."

They all stop and stare at him in surprise. Doc, Drew, and Fisk realize suddenly that Tara's reasoning and Zak's words were dead accurate. If anyone in the family died then things would just become unbearable.

Unaware of Zak and Tara's bond, Doc asks, "When did she tell you all of this?"

Zak looks up at him, "Back when mom was putting her stitches in."

Fisk leaves since he already knew about the bond, but Doc and Drew give him a startled look. Tara hadn't said a word apart from hissing when she was in the med room.

As if reading their minds Zak says, throwing subtlety through the window in his exhausted state, "We share a bond, so we can talk to each other without saying a word."

His parents gape at him like two fish, and Drew stutters, "A-a bond?"

Unable to suppress it, Zak stretches and yawns, "Yeah... ask Mary about it." He turns and walks down the hall. Going into that rage earlier had depleted almost all of his energy, and Zak was very tired now that the danger had passed.

Doc quickly recovers and says firmly, "Zak. There is another reason why Tara risked her life for mine."

"You're right," Zak doesn't look back at them as he hangs his head and says loud enough for them to hear, "She didn't want me to feel the pain that she does..." Zak walks away and into his room before he collapses on his bed.

Doc and Drew share a look, "The pain that she does?"

*******

Doc and Drew join Mary on the bridge, Doyle already having retired for the night to his quarters. They greet their old trainer warmly, "Long time no see, Mary."

She grins back, "I'm glad to see that you two are alright," she looks at them seriously, "We have much to discuss."

"Indeed." Doc nods.

Looking at their distracted expressions, Mary states, "I'm under the assumption that Zak has told you of the bond he and Tara have?"

Drew nods to their old mentor, "Yeah he told us to ask you about it."

Mary crosses her arms and gives them a look, "I doubt I know about it any better than he does, but I suppose I can put it into words better. Well, with the bond Zak and Tara can sense each other's location, feel the others emotions, and telepathically communicate to a limited degree." She informs them, "I was able to talk to them separately about it, and every response they made was identical to say the least," she pauses for an moment and says, "They said that while at first the bond was only strong enough to get vague feelings of emotion from each other, and at the time when they told me, their connection had become much more powerful."

Doc and Drew's eyebrows rise, and Drew asks, "Is it still growing in strength?"

Mary shrugs apologetically, "Sorry, I don't know. After I asked those questions of them, they kept mostly to themselves."

"Wow... Drew?"

"Yeah Doc?" She answers in a slightly shocked voice.

"Back in the med bay while you were treating Tara, Zak looked like he was in pain too."

Drew and Mary's eyes grow wide. Mary asks, "Are you sure Solomon?"

"100% positive. The look in his eyes where like something you see in the eyes of a wounded person, like Tara. The thing is he wasn't wounded."

"Oh my," Mary mutters, "That's a surprise now isn't it?"

"Hmm... I've heard about bonding incidents before, but there hasn't been a legitimate case since the late 1800's. The ones afterwards were hoaxes, elaborate and otherwise, but the people involved often times had things to gain, money. Zak and Tara's case shows all the signs of being legit though." Drew says nodding to herself, "Not to mention even past cases haven't been very strong either."

"I want to run a couple of tests to check this out later, but for the moment we should contact Fred and Linda, they're probably worried sick about Tara." Doc and Drew walk over to start sending a transmission, failing to notice the sorrowful expression on Mary's face.

Drew turns when she hears Mary say, "They won't answer when you call. They can't hear you any more."

The two Saturdays look at her in a confused manner, she clarifies, "I'm sorry, I know you four were good friends." A knot forms in the Saturdays' stomachs and they somehow knew what Mary was about to tell them, "Linda is KIA and Fredric is MIA. They've been gone for four years." Her voice quivering with grief.

Doc and Drew look at each other in shock, how could this have happened? And how did they never find out?

"What happened?" Doc asks first.

Mary sighs, "They went to Saudi Arabia with an archaeological group, and they took Tara with them. One night they were attacked and Fred was kidnapped by them. They found Tara holding Linda's body down in the ruins the next morning.

"They questioned Tara about what happened and she just wouldn't answer to anything whatsoever. She just stared at you with... blank eyes." Mary shakes her head, "Her eyes used to hold so much fire and life, but after watching her mother get murdered and then learning of her father's disappearance that fire just... went out."

She then looks up at them with an odd expression, "She's never told me or anyone else what happened that night. I never thought she would ever recover from this, I never thought I'd see the fire back in her eyes. It would seem that that's all changed now."

"You mean to say that being bonded to Zak is helping her somehow?" Drew asks.

"Yes, that's exactly what I mean. The fire has returned to her eyes a little since she met Zak, and it wouldn't surprise me if she has told Zak everything that happened that night."

Her features softening, Drew asks, "Where does Tara live now?"

"She had been jumping around from a few distant relatives of hers before living with Sergeant Major Cordan for the past few years."

Doc and Drew remembered Sgt. Major Cordan from a joint mission that the USMC and the Secret Scientists participated in twelve years back. He had been close friend to Linda Valdeze.

Mary continues, "Why do you ask?"

******** Sunrise Ashford, Washington

"Wake up! Come on you stupid morphine, let me wake up!" Tara willfully snarls at herself.

Her wound had healed up and the stitches had dissolved hours ago. Now she was trying to fight through the fog that the morphine kept over her body. Once she didn't have to focus on stopping the bleeding, she was able to bring her severed muscle, veins, and skin back together. Ever since the bonding, the focus needed to control her power had increased many times and her powers were far more efficient.

She stops in her wild, unorganized struggles through the fog of the drug in her physical system. Thinking for a few moments, Tara's internal self sat tapping her chin next to her griffin form. Tara-griffin krees, _"You humans are a curious bunch... You cloud your minds with these things that are only semi-effective as pain relievers and only slow your healing energies."_

"Normal humans can't harness their energies like shifters, healers, and many cryptids can. If they did, half of their problems would be solved." Tara-human says, "How to get out of here?"

_"Why not just wait for the drug to wear off?"_

"The last thing I want is for Doc or Drew to give me another dose because they think I'm still in pain. We'll be stuck here for a while if that's the case."

_"Point taken. You know, we haven't actually flown for just the sake of flying instead of fleeing from a pursuer or into battle."_

Tara feels a twinge of guilt, "I know. We'll do that soon enough though."

An idea pops into her head, and Tara focuses her energies in her physical body. The energy flashes harmlessly through her body cell by cell, burning the morphine out of her system. The fog lifts, and Tara's eyes open.

She rolls over onto her back and swings her legs over the side of the bed. She stands and turns her back towards the mirror in the room. Lifting the back of her shirt, Tara inspects the scar that trailed from the bottom right of her ribcage to her left hip. The scar was thin and the skin was smooth. There was no sign that there had been any stitches and the coloring was only a couple shades darker than her skin.

That was one effect of her power. If any are left behind, the scars are darker than the skin rather than lighter as it normally is when a wound is left to heal on its own.

She smiles, content that she was fully healed, and changes into one of her extras from her bag. Tara leaves her room and heads to the control bridge. Suddenly she feels Zak's mind, and with a slight grin she contacts him, "Good morning Wolfie."

He starts lightly then responds, using his nickname for her, "Talon! You're awake. Is your back..?"

"Yes, I'm fine. Where are you?" 

"With everyone else on the bridge."

"Righto, I'll be there in a few moments."

When Tara walks in she has a neutral expression on her face but her eyes were alight with hope. Zak regards her with a smile and says, "Hey Talon."

Doyle, Fisk, Mary, Doc, and Drew turn to see who walked in, and they do a double-take in shock.

"Tara! You should still be resting!" Drew says in a concerned tone.

Tara waves off her words and joins Zak at the holo-table, "What can I say, I'm a fast healer."

"Rriigghhtt." Doyle rolls his eyes in disbelief.

"Don't believe me?" Tara lifts the back of her shirt enough to see the bottom edge of her scar, "Why would I lie about this?"

"Outstanding... Your power did this?" Doc gasps.

"Uh huh... Where are we?"

"Ashford," Mary speaks up, "They were just going to drop us off."

Tara and Zak's faces fall in disappointment. Tara turns to go grab her pack when Doc says, "Tara. We want to speak with you."

She turns and regards Doc and Drew with saddened eyes.

"Doc and I have been talking, and we want to know if... if you want to come and live with our family." Drew asks the preteen in a soft voice.

Instead of happily accepting the offer, Tara instantly goes on guard and hisses, "I hope you realize that I know what you're doing. People have been trying this crap for the past four years." her voice lowers, "I refuse to be a charity case..."

Drew smiles internally, 'Oh yeah. She's definitely your kid, Linda.' "It's not what you are seeing it as." Tara narrows her eyes in mistrust, "We want you to come and be the medic for our family. Some of our missions are pretty dangerous and as much as I hate to say it, someone is bound to get hurt at some point or another... "

Doc and Drew had been warned by Mary ahead of time that Tara would decline any offer that even whiffed of 'charity case', even if she wants to come with them.

Doc picks up the comment, "And even though we know enough about medical problems to take care of most injuries, having a specialized medic for those things would be invaluable. If you decide to come with us, we'll take care of basic living expenses and you'll be given and allowance. When you're off duty you'll have school courses."

"You'll be earning your keep and doing a job Tara, so you won't be a 'case'. My folks will stay true to their word." Zak says in an almost frantic manner. He wanted her to stay as bad as she wanted to.

She nods to him, then turns back to Doc and Drew, "What's the catch?"

"That you take combat training with the rest of us." Drew says.

Tara looks to Mary, "What of Sgt. Major?"

"They've already spoken to him and he thinks it's a good idea." the older woman states truthfully.

Zak and Fisk give her a thumbs up and nod eagerly when she glances briefly their way. She returns her gaze to Doc and Drew and answers, "I accept."

"Oh yeah!" Zak and Fisk shout. Fisk takes three huge strides and envelopes her in a colossal hug.

"You're... crushing... me..." Tara wheezes as she giggles softly.

Zak, Fisk and Komodo promptly start to drag Tara off a tour of the airship. Doc and Drew say their farewells to Doyle and Mary, and take off for the last leg of the journey home.

* * *

**Okay I apologize for how late this chapter is in being posted but I was stuck at band camp without Internet for 2 weeks so yeah...**

**This chapter was for Fisk4President, who reminded me how long it's been since I've updated.**

**P.S. This story takes place right before Fisk gets nabbed by Argost.**

**Your Humble Authoress,  
Sangheili Warrior Girl**


	13. Into the Beast

As you have probably noticed, the last chapie left much to be desired. (Being a cop out and all) So here is another and hopefully better chapie, based off of Once More The Nightmare Factory, and it is a two part thing. this is just a quick one that I typed up for y'all before Thanksgiving. That, and I'm (in the words of Argost) "an encouragable tease".

Chapter 13: Into the Beast

The dark House of Argost was crouching on the hill upon which it was built, a huge monsterous beast of black brick and steel. Grotesque gargoyles squat snarling on the eaves of the larger creature and Gothic designs are etched and sprawling across the outer walls. Many blood-red stained glass windows stare out at them almost greedily and a tall spiked fence surrounds it, like a caged animal knowing it was about to be fed.

Fisk's rescue party look upon it in uneasiness, a similar feeling as the 'last time' for two of this brave and determined group.

"Remember. Stay alert at all times. This place is a nightmare factory." Drew whispers.

Zak starts to nod but hesitates half way through. He audiably sniffs the air. This does not go unnoticed by Doc, Drew, and Tara, and Doc asks, "What is it?"

"Their blood," Doc and Drew recoil slightly at his words and the gravelly sound of his voice, "I can smell their blood."

"As do I."" Tara whispers back, her pupils dilated in fear.

"Listen. You two don't-" Doc pleads, trying to get them to change their minds one last time before they passed the point of no return, but Zak vehemantly refuses enough for both of them.

"No. This was my fault, and I'm going to set this right," Zak sighs, "He will not die because of my stupidity."

Doc and Drew look as if they wish to argue but stop. The look on the two eleven-year olds' faces tell the two adults that these two will not be persuaded otherwise.

The pair shake off the feelings of dread and aprehension before charging with the rest of the team into the hell-house. Not twenty feet in the door do they encounter something unexpected.

Tara is acting as their rear gaurd when suddenly she feels complete bond silence.... nothing.... absolutely, positively nothing through the bond. Ever since the bond was forged, Tara has never felt so isolated. This was different from simply being out of range of each other. It was as if the bond was almost non-existant. She cries out in unison with Zak, who was also expirencing the same, disturbing sensation.

Alarmed, Doc and Drew ask, "What is it?!" Their hands on their weapons.

Tara and Zak simply stare at each other, panic apparent in their eyes. Tara whimpers, "I... I can't sense you... At all..."

Zak shakes his head as if trying to dispell the sensation with such an ineffective method, "This is wrong..... This is very wrong...."

Understanding the predicament, Drew says, "There are so many different ancient artifacts in here, so one of them are probably affecting you two."

The stunned shifters nod and continue through the house. Eventually they reach a room further inside, discovering a cryptid that turns from sheep dog to killer porcupine in half a second gaurding it. AFter this, things get progressively worse. Doc opens the door to the next room so they could escape, but a raging tempest blasts through instead of revealing a way out.

Zak is able to calm the angry cryptid down, and Doc and Komodo are able to get the door closed again, but they were not safe. A hidden trap door suddenly swings open in the center of the room, being no bigger than half a meter by half a meter, and three large tenticles shoot out of the opening and grabs the closest thing to the hole, Tara.

"NO!" The family shouts as their team medic is felled to the floor and dragged across the carpet.

Shifting, Tara sinks her talons into the floor as the tenticles try to drag her into the hole. Drew throws her fire sword to cut her free, but Tara's talons lose their grip briefly, allowing the tenticles to pull her into the path of the flung fire sword. Knowing that she needed to get lower to the floor than her current form would allow, Tara shifts back and presses herself against the carpet and out of the deadly blade's way. In doing so, she loses her grip. She is almost completely consumed by the hole by the time she rips her knife out and stabs it into the floor.

"This thing isn't going to let go!"

"Just hold on! We'll get you out!" Doc and Drew cry out.

Tara groans as the pressure on her shoulders, leg, and waist increases, "No you won't." Tara looks up and sees everyone's horrified expressions, "If you stay to help me, Fisk may be lost to you! NOW GO!"

She looks down into the space into which she would be falling. One cryptid was visable and awaiting her below. It snarls and growls in aggitation and anticipation at Tara's struggles. She looks back up to see that the Saturdays were still hesitating to leave her, and she can read the anguish at having to choose between her and Fisk flashing in their eyes.

Zak is still able to read what she was thinking through her eyes as well. What he sees, he doesn't like. "No.... no, no, no...... " he mutters.

"Just go! I'll be okay!" she flashes him a look of 'I'm sorry' and yanks the knife out of the floor, letting herself get dragged away. The trap door slams closed once again.

"NO!!!" Zak roars, his eyes not leaving the spot where she disappeared. Everyone remaining is stunned into silence.

To be continued.....


	14. Basment Lurk

**Chapter 14: That Which Lurks In Argost's Basement**

**Tara's P.O.V**

I catch one last glimpse at Zak's disbelieving expression before the trap door slams shut above me. The cryptid that holds me in its grasp squeezes its coils, which surround me, tighter. This morbidly reminds me of an anaconda suffocating its prey.

I snarl and stab the coils wrapped around my waist and gut. My pistol now free, I unholster it and fire at the ones on my feet while I simultaneously slash the ones at my shoulders. It roars in fury and pain, dropping me to the stone floor.

I roll when I hit the ground as I was trained to do to minimize damage to myself and so that I may recover my bearings faster. The mammalian cryptid roars again and strikes with its vaguely snake-like, furred head and neck.

As it lunges forward, I get a shot off at its face with one of my non-lethal blasts. My shot flies true and nails it right in the middle of the face. It hisses in pain and slinks away into the surrounding darkness. I assume that it no longer wants me for a meal and goes to find a more unwary prey.

Figuring that I couldn't go back the way I came, I look around the barley-lit room, which was difficult even with my enhanced shifter night vision. To my left, I spot an inconsistency on the stone blocks. Upon closer inspection, it proves to be my escape into a different "delightful" room. I crawl up into the feeding shoot that is slippery from the blood of the meals tossed down to the imprisoned cryptids and towards the thin metal panel that undoubtedly would allow me into the next dungeon when dealt with.

I feel around the edges of the panel and find what I sought. So I pull out my knife again and start unscrewing screws in the panel. Once done, I pry the panel open enough for me to squeeze through into the adjacent cell. I carefully climb out into the dimly lit room, my pistol sweeping the area as I do so. What I see within this cell however was no normal cryptid.

It was a HUGE bladerith, at least three times the size of Daemon's jeuvinile bladerith form, but something was horribly wrong with it. Its quills were mangled and barbed, and its scales were serated on the very edges and glowed with a flourescent green light. These things are not what I found the most disturbing however, the mechanical device that took the place of the rhombus shaped crest at the start of the trail of quills on its head.

I activate my "bio-vision" to analyze this weird desecration on this creature. Bio-vision is a side ability of mine that allows me to read the energy flow of my surroundings and if I focus on a single being then I can see the innermost workings of it. It has a 360 degree range and gives me a sort of sixth-sense even when it's not in use.

What it shows me nearly brings me to tears. The device itself was wired straight into the mutated bladerith's brain, and it was heavily affected by radiation, the most obvious of the sources of the mutations.

Just having noticed my presence, it turns its huge bulk to face me. Its eyes glowed red-orange in fury as its quills stand straight up in a battle position. The creature roars and swings its over-sized, serrated forearm blades at me. I dodge by rolling backwards to the wall. It was then that I realized how big the room was in comparison to the cryptid within it. The creature which was now standing had to hunch over just to get on its feet and it had no maneuvering room.

It roars again and lunges forward with as much force as it can muster in these close confines. I roll between its legs, dodging the lashing tail. It breaks through into a larger area which is the size of a typical school gymnasium. I was a sitting duck inside the old holding cell, so I get out into the larger room while it is still trying to recover from the recoil.

It lurches to its feet again, snarling in fury, but it stops suddenly. It shudders and convulses briefly and its pupils become the same color as the rest of its eye. A current of energy flashes through the nervous system from the device and interrupts the original impulses. In seconds, its movements become less of a disoriented beast's and more of a decisive fighter. Soon, I find myself pushing my body and training to their limits just trying to keep out of the way of its attacks.

'One hit from this guy and I'll be lucky to just be incapasitated. I've got to end this quickly.'

As I continue to dodge, I see the shimmer of a camera lens, and I realize that Munya or Argost must be controlling the creature. I fire a round at and destroy the camera in the room, hopefully destroying the only way for the controller to see the happenings in this room. Luckily for me, this works and leaves my foe slightly blind.

The one controlling the creature must have decided that I wasn't worth the extra effort, for the creature returned to its 'normal' self and fighting style. The next time its forearm blade slashes past me, I jump onto its upper arm, grabbing on to two surprisingly dull quills before swinging up onto its back.

When I come into such close proximity with the energies of creatures, I can read how much pain they are in. The beast struggling to dislodge me from its back and kill me was in terrible, unfathomable agony. I try to see if anything that I knew about anatomy or healing can heal this poor beast, and I try some of the things that would have worked, should have worked. Nothing relieved it even a little.

Gripping onto the quills at the base of its skull tighter, I let go of my conscious thoughts and release the control of my power to my instincts and my spirit. I feel my spirit extend tendrils of energy to the bladerith's spirit, testing and feeling the extent of damage and emotion. As this happens the struggle between our physical forms cease.

_ARGGGHHHH...... THIS PAIN..... I CANNOT CONTROL MYSELF.... _it was then that he seems to notice my presence_, PLEASE NO.... YOU'VE TAKEN MY LIFE, MY BODY AND MY WILL FROM ME.... IS THAT NOT ENOUGH FOR YOU HUMAN? ISN'T YOUR SICK DREAM OF CONTROLLING EVERY ONE OF MY BRETHREN THROUGH KUR ENOUGH TO SATE YOUR GREED_?

I say nothing back and only reveal what I am, neither human nor cryptid but still part of both worlds. A shifter.

_NO... NOT HUMAN... PROTECTOR, HEALER.... WHERE DID YOUR KIND GO? THE HUMANS HAVE BEEN DESTROYING THE GREAT MOTHER, OUR MOTHER, WITHOUT RESPITE.... _

_" I am sorry Little Brother," _the things I say coming from a deep part of my spirit, a place I have not yet explored myself, a place that I didn't know existed_, "my kind was sealed away with Kur. Without our forms, we became no more than 'bleeding-hearts' and 'tree huggers' to the humans... Forgive us, for we have failed in our duties to maintain The Balance."_

As I say this, my strength purges the pain temporarily from his body, allowing his spirit full articulation. If I were standing before him, Zanobi the bladerith would have dropped to his belly in relief that the unbearable, constant pain was gone. His spirit cried.

_BIG SISTER, THERE IS NOTHING TO FORGIVE. THE ONES WHO WALK BETWEEN HAVE RETURNED TO THIS WORLD, AND THAT IS WHAT MATTERS.... RESTORING THE SACRED BALANCE. I AM THANKFUL TO HAVE AT LEAST SEEN THE BEGINNING OF THE RESTORATION BEFORE MY FINAL DESTINY CAME TO PASS._

_"Your Final Destiny?"_

_YES, THE ONE THING THAT WE ARE ALL BORN TO DO. SOME KNOW WHAT THEIRS IS, LIKE I DO, AND MANY MORE GO THEIR WHOLE LIFE TIMES WITHOUT KNOWING IT BUT STILL ACCOMPLISH IT. MY OWN NAME REFLECTS MY FATE, FOR ZANOBI MEANS SCARCELY ALIVE. MY FINAL DESTINY IS TO BE AN AID TO YOU LATER, THIS YOU WILL SEE SOMEDAY, BUT FOR NOW YOU MUST AID ME._

_"How shall I aid you Little Brother?" _

His spirit and soul at peace, he says, _END MY SUFFERING... AND GIVE ME MY DEATH... _

I instantly recoil from the idea of ending his life, _"No Little Brother, I cannot take your life from you!"_

_MY LIFE ENDED LONG AGO, DEAR SISTER. YOU KNOW AS WELL AS I THAT YOUR POWER IS NOT STRONG ENOUGH YET TO PURGE MY BROKEN WILL AND BODY OF THIS SHADOW FOREVER. PLEASE, BIG SISTER, THIS IS THE WILL OF THE PATTERN. _

In my heart I knew that he was right, so despite the sorrow in my heart for having to kill him, I grant Zanobi's request, stopping his heart with a simple jolt of my power. In the final moments of his soul inhabiting his body, I cradle Zanobi's spirit and shield it from the final pain of death, a final comfort and hopefully one fond memory as he leaves this world.

Before Zanobi is completely gone, his free voice whispers to me, _THANK YOU, MOTHER MYSTIC......_

So like that he was gone, and I soon find myself back in my body again and laying on Zanobi's neck with tears running down my face, his final words leaving me confused. 'Mother Mystic?'

I wipe the tears from my face as well as any other signs of emotional distress, and I slide off of his neck. It is then that I realize that I clutched something in my hand. I open it and see something amazing.

Nestled in my palm was one of Zanobi's small scales with the Sumerian symbol of mystic carved into the slighly glowing face of it. (I'd picked up the meaning of a few symbols from Drew.) What really stunned me was that there was a metal ring on the top of it. An idea pops into my head, and I pull my mother's dog tags out from under my shirt. I undo the link on the back of my neck briefly and slide the scale into place next to the tags that were already there. I glance at the three things on the chain which were of equal size once before returning it back to thier place under my shirt.

I walk around to the left side of his face and close one eyelid and then the other, a phrase that I don't even understand flowing from my lips, "Vado tutus ut phasmatis Parum Frater."

With that, I turn and leave to find and reunite with my partner, Zak.

**Narrator's P.O.V. With Zak and co.**

In rapid succession, Zak, Fisk, Drew, Doyle, Zon, Komodo, and Doc are expelled from Argost's lair by the tentacles of the crustacean cryptid. They all morosely get to their feet, their moment of triumph made bitter by the loss of Tara. They all wear expressions of pain and sorrow, all except for Zak.

He stares intently at the monster crouched upon the hill, waiting for any sign that his dear friend, his partner, was still alive.

His voice crackling with grief, Doc sighs, "I'm sorry Zak.... She's gone..."

He tries to place a hand on his son's shoulder, but Zak jerks away and gives him a half angry, half panicked expression, "No... She's not gone! She can't be gone... I KNOW she's not..."

Drew chokes, "Zak, your bond was blocked off when you two were in there. You wouldn't have known if she was..."

Zak returns his gaze back to the monster, "You don't know anything about this.... Blocked bond or not, I'd know if she were dead."

Everyone could hear in his voice that he truly believes this, and that he fervently hopes that he isn't wrong. So they say nothing more and wait with him.

Suddenly they see a sillouette through one of the first story windows, and it gets larger and larger before breaking into a million pieces with several shots of a blaster. Tara leaps through the hole and transforms when her feet touch the soil and wings into the sky.

They group shouts in happiness that their medic has survived.

"I knew you're okay." Zak says to her as he rejoices that they could sense and talk to each other once more. She is overjoyed as well, but something was troubling her deeply. "What's wrong?"

Tara comes in for a landing and transforms, "Later. We should talk about this later when we are alone." "I'm glad to see that everyone is more or less unharmed." She hugs Fisk, "Welcome back big guy."

"Hey Fisk! Come over here and tell me how big of a hero I am...." Doyle says.

**Alright so there's chapter fourteen! Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a merry Christmas and a happy New Year! Please drop a review and tell me how the story is coming. Oh and below is the meanig of those words that Tara whispers to Zanobi. **

***Vado tutus ut phasmatis Parum Frater - Go safely to the spirits, Little Brother **


	15. The Library of Aala

Warning! This chapter contains graphic descriptions of wounds and deaths, reader discretion is advised. These portions will be marked as bold faced words.

And no, this will not contain any smut, sickos.

Chapter 15: The Library of Aala

Kur roars again and pounds the ice below him, sending any standing too close to him sprawling. Few, if any, of the warriors were fighting Kur directly so fierce were the cryptids pouring forth from his jaws.

A smaller group battled nearby, a three-on-three melee. Fisk wrestles in the snow with Munya.

Tara fights against Argost wielding her pair of Japanese Tantos in swift, flashing attacks. Her style had improved since her first true battle with Rook, and she now danced in and out of attacks with aid from her bio-vision. Despite her improvements and advantages, Argost parries her attacks aside.

Zak dodges the powerful sweeping slashes of another mutated bladerith. His eyes flicker with his powers as he attempts to connect with it. The creature roars in rage each time Zak gets close to gaining connection, seeming to blame Zak for its imprisonment, "GET OUT OF MY HEAD! GET OUT!" Making the difficult decision based off of Tara's own encounter, Zak leaps onto the bladerith's back, avoiding running himself through on the spines. He clambers up to the control device on the base of the creature's skull, and whispers, "I'm sorry Brother." He raises the Claw over his head and stabs it into the gap in the device's armor, sending an electric shock through the cryptid and killing it.

The bladerith falls, and Zak sprints over towards Tara. So in sync were they, Tara allows Argost to throw her back towards Zak so that she could join him for a combined attack which sends Argost flying back towards his fallen bladerith. Furious, Argost snarls in agitation. He stands and tears a spine out of the bladerith's back with a sickening and audible pop.

Scroll down to the next bold faced marker if you're squeamish.

He charges Zak, catching him off guard. The maniac backsweeps the bloody base of the spine into Zak's temple and knocks him to the ground. He raises the improptue weapon for a stab at his heart, and Zak, stunned by the blow to his head, does the only thing he can think of to save himself and sweeps his weapon downward.

The Claw deflects the stab downward to Zak's abdomen. The serated and barbed spine impails Zak, tearing and slicing a jagged wound in his lower left abdomen. Zak screams in agony as his blood spills onto the snow. Fisk slams Argost away, unintentionally tearing the weapon out and causing more damage. Tara is instantly by his side, and Fisk goes to tell the family what happened as Argost and Munya make their move.

Kur's next strike opens a fissure in the ice dropping the family down into it. Realizing that the crevasse would be the safest place for the time being, Tara gently slides her forearms under him and shifts, doing her best to alleviate the pain. "Keep holding in there Zak, I just have to get you somewhere safe." Using her tail for balance and flaring her wings, Tara hefts Zak into the secure cradle of her fore claws and sprints briefly before taking flight. She lands on the bottom of the crevasse nearby the family and shifts back, laying her bondmate on the ground gingerly.

The family rushes over, not seeing the wound initially. Zak inaudibly gasps and wheezes in pain as Tara swiftly unzips his jacket and cuts open the lower half of his shirt. He shudders as his wound is exposed to the fridged air, and the others gasp in horror upon seeing it. Tara immediately sets to work healing him.

Pushing her powers farther than she has ever dared to go, veins and arteries pull back together and seal as if nothing happened, excess blood pooled in his body cavity pulls out, and tissue and muscle knit back together under Tara's focused will. Soon, the only thing that remained of the wound was a seven pointed star-shaped scar two inches or so across and his blood smeared on his stomach and Tara's front.

Okay, you can open your eyes now kiddies

Supporting each other, they stand, looking up at Kur through the top of the crevasse. He whispers, "He's inside that thing now, isn't he?"

"Yes." She whispers. They stand together closely, " We might not be able to stop this thing."

"I don't have a choice. I'm the only one who can stop him."

"Weren't you listening Wolfie? WE are the only ones who can take this thing down 'cause if you fight, I fight."

He gives her a grateful glance, and they wait for the inevitable protests from the family but none come. Instead Doc and Drew hand them their Power Glove and Fire Sword.

Zak watches stunned as his father says, "This is your moment. We won't hold you back" They embrace him, and then Drew pulls Tara into a separate hug. She stiffens uncomfortably, unused to any physical contact with any but Zak, but soon relaxes into the familiar yet forgotten motherly embrace. "Be careful up there," She whispers and pulls back, smiling encouragingly at them.

Gathering their courage and energy, the three enter the belly of the beast.

Later…

Zak's power surges forth with startling ferocity and strength, snapping Argost's control like a twig underfoot. His fur wips around in a nonexistent tempest, his powers forming a visual aura around him. Golden runes weave along his sides, and his eyes burn with ancient power as he advances on Argost. Next to him, Tara is in a similar state, her feathers and wingtips glowing with blue runes.

"NO!" Argost screams as he stands, "The power is MINE!"

Tara batters him aside with a sweep of her wings, cutting his rant short. They stride towards him, shifting back. The black fuzz-ball cryptids begin advancing towards Argost as well, and he sneers, "Sending in your cryptids to finish me off? How sadistic of you."

"You know I'd rather get you myself, Argost."

"Then they are still mine. Cryptids! I speak for Kur, and he says to tear the shifters apart!" The creatures ignore him and attack in a writhing mass of bodies and black fur. Munya pushes away from Fisk and leaps into the fray after his master.

Without a word or backward glance from Zak or Tara, the three turn and leave. The howls, screeches, and screams of the fighting beings escort them into the throat cavity. Suddenly, two separate gusts separate the three, taking Tara and Zak further into Kur.

The pair screams as they slide down into the mouth on its chest. When they thought they'd land on solid snow, they were dead wrong. As they flew out of the mouth they were greeted by a gaping abyss. Tara tries to shift but fails, and they fall.

Later….

Zak's eyes snap open, and pain courses through his body. Lifting his face off of the ice, he looks around for Tara, "Tara, are you alright?"

He hears her groan, "Well nothing's broken. Aside from that, I find it hard to see this situation as 'fine'."

They struggle to their feet and look up. A huge dome of ice stretches over their heads seemingly as vast as the night sky, the ice at the apex of the dome diffusing some light down to them. Looking closely, they can see the dark silhouette of Kur sprawled on the ice above them.

"How'd we even survive that fall? It has to be a couple hundred feet to the top, at least." Zak wonders aloud.

Glancing around into the surrounding darkness, Tara says, "We've known that we're more durable than a typical human but not to this extreme…"

"Either way, we're alive, so I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth."

Tara nods in agreement and reaches for her pouch on the back of her belt, producing a glow-stick. She cracks it, starting the chemical process within, "Lets see where we are." She shakes the stick to speed up the reaction and holds it out.

Below their feet, an elaborate mosaic depicting thousands of cryptids, animals accepted by science, and even a few species that they've never seen before stretches into a huge circle, and large columns are placed at perfect intervals on the edge of what seemed to be a courtyard. They turn around notice a fountain. They stride over to the rim of the fountain and realize that no water flows through it. Tara reaches out and places her palm on the lip of the fountain. Suddenly, the sound of rushing water fills the air, and glowing blue water pours forth from the fountain. Beneath their feet, the water's glow extends under a network of clear ice covered channels no thicker than an inch through the mosaic, illuminating the circle.

The now illuminated fountain is revealed to have a sculpture of a Chinese Water Dragon coiled on a stack of scrolls, holding an unfurled scroll in one foreclaw and an ancient navigation instrument in the other. The water pours forth from the ends of the scrolls and the navigation tool. This is all carved from polished marble and wrought in fine bronze craftsmanship.

The pair gape in wonder at this creation, having never seen something so finely crafted in all of their lives.

"By the spirits," Tara murmurs in awe. She looks around and realizes that the columns aren't columns at all. Surrounding them were the beginning edges of bookshelves.

"The Library of Aala…," Zak reads the words carved into the base of the fountain in an ancient tongue. Despite never having seen the language in which it was written, the words just jump into his head.

"Welcome brethren," a silky voice croons in greeting, "it has been long since shifters have come to these tomes."

The pair spin around to se a pale blue spirit floating on the edge of the circle. Were she living, her hair would be raven black, and her eyes hold the same mystical glint as Tara's. Her body was swathed in a simple linen toga. In essence, she looked like a Greek godess of myth, "I am Aala, the Spirit of Wisdom. It is nice to see the you've returned."

Felling that it is the right thing to do out of respect, the bond mates cross their arms across their chests with a slight bow, "Greetings, Lady Aala."

Aala smiles, her timeless eyes sparkling, "Fill a lantern and follow me. I shall wait."

"Lanterns?" They look around quizzically.

Seeming to hear their unspoken question, Aala gestures behind them. They turn and see spherical lanterns lining the outer wall of the fountain. Zak grabs a vessel and fills it with the glowing water, Tara falling in beside him as he follows Aala into the darkness cloaking the bookshelves.

Tara speaks up, "So… this is your library?"

Aala continues, answering, "In a respect, I suppose. You see, this place was created in my honor several generations after my passing into the Spirit World. It started small, containing only a few tomes of great importance- oh listen to me, I'm rambling," she giggles, "We're getting close."

They pass through an archway the reads Medicinal Studies. The tables centered in the middle of the rows are covered in old and untouched scientific experimenting and reseach equipment. On the shelves were books and scrolls pertaining to physiology, psychology, and healing powers and techniques. The deeper they get into the section, the more skeletal and preserved specimens they start to see. Sea monster skulls, a hominid skeleton, jarred Mongolian Death Worms, analids, and more.

Zak peeks over at Tara and can't help but chuckle at what he sees. Her eyes were alight with an intelligent and borderline childlike wonder, a light usually just a simple spark. He leans over and whispers, breaking Tara from her daze, "You know, we can probably come back here someday."

She jumps slightly and turns to him with a grin, "That'd be… That'd be amazing. Your mother and father would have a field day here too."

They turn to find Aala floating backwards, still leading them. There is a soft knowing smile on her face. Zak rubs the back of his neck sheepishly and says, "I mean… That is if it's okay."

Aala stops abruptly and throws back her head in howling laughter, "of course you two can return!" She instantly sobers, "I've not seen a shifter in these halls for well over two thousand years, not since the beginning of the Great Sorrow."

They glance at each other, and Tara asks, "Lady Aala, who were you when you were in the World of the Living?"

Aala falls back to float in between them and she answers, "I… I was the first shifter Mother Mystic, the conduit between the Great Mother and her children."

"The Great Mother?" Aala stops and stares at Tara incredulously, "Forgive me sister, but I have only heard of her but once."

A reverent look comes onto Aala's face and she begins to speak, continuing onward, "The Great Mother has many names, the most common on being Earth. Like your mothers, She is the creating force on our bodies, and even after you have left the womb, she nurtures and provides for you. She is the Mother of all living beings, for she creates our physical forms." She leads them down a passage, "She works in tandem with the Master of Souls, our Father. The Master of Souls creates the spirits of all self aware beings. We are there."

Zak and Tara snap out of their trance that they had fallen into and take notice of the new room they were in. They were now in a smaller dome only 20 yards in diameter, and channels of glowing water veining their way across the ceiling and walls, illuminating the walls and floor. Various animals and cryptids are etched into the walls and floor, and in the center of the room is a pair of winged dragon statues on their hind legs, wings flared, both pouring a nonexistent liquid from bowls held in their foreclaws into a basin at their feet. Both's faces are set in calm yet intense masks as they stare into the liquid filled basin.

They glance over to Aala, who only gestures toward the two dragons. Gulping back their uncertainty, the pair step towards the basin at the stone creatures' feet. They drop slowly to their knees at the edge of the basin, and as they do so, an opaque liquid begins to pour from the bowls held by the dragons.

Zak holds out a shaky upward-held palm and ignites his powers into a small golden flame-like apparition upon it. Above him, the eyes of the closest dragon glow the same color. He looks over at Tara expectantly, waiting to see if she is indeed the one other who could create a flame like his.

Pulling strength from an entity which was unfamiliar yet as familiar to the other half of her soul as her own heart beat, Tara holds out her own palm and brings forth a flame of silver. She holds it over the basin next to Zak's, their thumbs brushing against each other lightly. Tara returns his look with a smile of total recognition, and the corasponding dragon's eyes glow.

They exterminate the distance between their hands and fuse the flames into one pure white one. Prismous light shines forth from the fragile yet, in the eyes of ones who can See, the strongest flame in the world. As if practiced, the two partners fluidly and gingerly place the Flame of Souls in its rightful place in the now-full basin. The liquid came alight with the flame, and the fire follows the fluid up to the bowls. The basin is full of a whirling, relaxing, and almost water-like fire. Softly murmuring voices of spirits past spill forth.

Aala whispers, "It has been affirmed. The Mother Mystic and Kur have returned to their place in the World of Life."

At this statement, Zak breaks out of his zen-like trance and spins around, "What are you talking about? Kur is above us and-"

"You misunderstand, Zak Saturday. You are Kur," Zak staggers away from the basin of fire, shaking his head in disbelief.

He chokes, "No… No, no, no…. I'm no monster!"

Aala looks upon him with pity but says, "You felt it when you reignited the Flame. You could not identify it at the time, but you know what you are, who you are."

He howls in horror at what he is. He drops back to his knees and buries his head in his hands, "After all of this time, this struggle, I'm the ultimate evil?"

Tara has stood by this time and could offer no comfort to her partner. At his statement, Aala flares up in rage, her voice reverberates in anger, "Evil? You believe the human propaganda that Kur is evil?" Zak flinches away from her fury, "Kur is no evil being. He is the warrior son of the Master of Souls, His champion of the Balance, and the conduit through the boundries between souls. He is the first to walk through the Veil with the Mother Mystic by his side, and the leader of the shifters. With out you in the World of Life your brethren cannot take their forms. And Tara?

"You are the Mother Mystic and the champion of the Great Mother, her mage daughter. Your powers can manipulate the very base energies of this presence and bond to Kur helps him control himself, and he amplifies your powers. Through you, shifters have access to true magics. You have seen what you are and have accepted it, have you not?"

The newest Mother Mystic tears her eyes from Zak and sets them upon her predecessor. Tara hesitates, but answers, "I cannot fully accept who I am until the one to whom I am bonded can accept himself." Zak winces once more as she says this and looks up at her with a tortured expression. In an attempt to quell her despondant partner, Tara beseeches her forrunner for clarification, "Sister, if the human story isn't true, what really happened those ages ago? Did Kur really destroy ancient civilization?"

Aala murmurs, "A dark piece of our kind's history indeed… One of which I wish we didn't have to revisit," she glances at Zak, who was still struggling with himself, "but I see it shall be necessary to move forward." She floats over to the abandoned basin, "Come, so you may see truth."

Weary of whatever Aala would have to show him and untrusting of the Spirit of Wisdom, Zak stays where he was. Knowing her predecessor only wished to help, Tara approaches him and joins him on the floor.

He looks into her eyes as she whispers soothingly and places a hand on his cheek, "Exsisto sedo. Credo mihi." (see bottom of page for translation)

Zak instantly calms and musters his courage, allowing Tara to pull him to his feet and following her to Aala.

Aala whispers, "Gaze into the flames and See."

The room melts away, and soon the pair find themselves as ghostly apparitions in a receiving hall to a throne room. Twenty feet from them, a man and woman just out of the years of adolescence converse in hushed tones. The pair wear simple leather armor, the man in black and the woman in deep blue, and corresponding colored travel cloaks rest on their shoulders.

The woman whispers, "Something feels… wrong with the energies here."

"Hmmm… I feel it too. Should we go through with this meeting, Aket-ten?"

"We have to," the woman, identified as Aket-ten, insists, "Minos has been causing unrest all over, and if we don't talk to him now, we'll never be able to speak with him diplomatically. We'll end up causing a war. Mother doesn't like it when oceans of blood are spilt upon her over greed."

The man huffs, "Hmph… Somehow I have a feeling that, no matter how we approach this situation, a war is what we'll get."

The scene shifts, and they are now standing in a throne room. Before them, Aket-ten and her companion are arguing with a man adorned in kingly garb. The man they assumed to be King Minos snarls, "I grow sick of your demands Kiron! You underestimate our strength!"

"As you underestimate ours," the man, Kiron, responds on the edge of calm, "If you continue with your scheme for conquest, we'll have to take drastic measures."

Minos stands abruptly, his face red with rage, "I'll not be threatened in my own throne room!" He snaps his fingers and suddenly the chains inlaid in the marble floor crackle with dark magics. They come to life and bind Aket-ten and Kiron to the floor, pulling them down to their knees.

The pair lash out with their respective powers, but the strength of their energies reverse and zap them before Kiron's power could snag control of the guards or Aket-ten's could unleash a cleansing flame. Mages enter the room quickly, pulling a huge guillotine like blade into the room. The blade itself crackles with dark magic, and the mages begin to chant and raise the blade.

A scream of terror explodes from Aket-ten, and she cries, "What is it that you think will come of this Minos? What will come from severing our bond?"

He laughs cruelly as the mages continue their work, "You will be powerless of course! I will have the largest empire this world has ever seen, and man will reign supreme!"

Kiron snarls as another bolt of energy flares through him, "Over our dead bodies!"

"That's the plan."

The Mages stop chanting, and a thick band of light spreads between Kiron and Aket-ten. Minos gives the signal, and the blade of horrible magic drops. The pain that explodes from both of the shifters is nearly malleable, and despite it only being a memory, the strength of their past lives' agonies drive them to their knees, eliciting twin cries of sorrow.

Kiron and Aket-ten collapse, the pain of their souls being rended apart too unbearable for their vocal chords to work. The guards come forth, release the pair still writhing in pain from their chains, and haul them to their knees before Minos.

They gaze at each other through the haze of pain, their hands twitching towards each other.

"See? Man can do what ever it pleases, for we are the superior race!" Minos stands before Kiron, "You wasted your power Kur. You and your shifters could have ruled the world, yet you wasted it on keeping all power equal…. Pathetic." He grabs Kiron's chin roughly and turns his head towards his partner, and he mocks, "Now… You'll see the consequences of your weakness." He nods to the guard standing behind Aket-ten, and he draws the blade at his hip.

Kiron groans, struggling frailly against the gentle hold Minos has on him, "Please, just let us touch and we shall leave in peace!"

Minos barks an laugh, "And let you return with an army? I think not." He nods to the guard.

The guard plunges the blade through the gap in her armor above her shoulder. Aket-ten doesn't make a sound, just jerks and falls to the floor. Minos releases Kiron so that he can scramble to his dying love, and Kiron gathers Aket-ten into his shaking arms.

She looks up into his pained eyes, their connection failing to reconnect for the fact that a living soul cannot be bound to a dying one. Her hand comes up to his cheek, and she chokes, "I… I love you, Kiron."

Tears well up in his eyes, and he holds her bloodstained hand to his face, "I love you too."

She gasps once more before going still. Minos throws back his head in a horrible laugh, "Their power is no more! Man shall rule now! I shall rule now!"

Minos fails to realize that now his existence was in mortal peril. Kiron rises to his feet slowly, like a ghostly shadow, the pure, golden color of his eyes bleeding out into a enraged, bloodthirsty red. His head rolls back and a roar of unfathomable rage tears forth. All of the room's occupants besides Minos fall to the ground dead, the very connectors between their bodies and spirits severed like Kur's bond.

Minos gawks at him, eyes wide and face pale. He falls to the ground in soul shaking fear, scrambling backwards away from Kur as he advances on him. As Kur does so, his feet lengthen until he stalked on digitigrades legs like a cat or dog's, his skin darkens and hardens into impenetrable scales, his face morphs into that of a reptilian monster's, and his hands turn into bladelike claws. Wings and a tail soon join the monsterous ensemble to create one of the most horrific beings conceived by the mind of man or gods.

"No… no no no no, go away. Gods no!" Minos babbles incoherently, praying to his gods to save him. However, this does not deter Kur, but this only stirs his rage into an unstoppable maelstrom.

His voice seemingly splits the air, and he grabs Minos by his throat, **"You will not find release from pain in death worm!" **Thin streams of blood trickle down Minos' neck from where Kur's gripping claws peirce the thin skin. With no mercy nor humanity left in his soul, Kur forces upon Minos a vision of what enternity awaits him.

Minos screams and wails in terror, his struggles only digging the wounds on his neck deeper. Kur tears the ornate jewel amulet from around Minos' neck and presses the face of the amulet against his forehead. The amulet begins to glow with white-hot power and this glow spreads from the trinket and perforates Minos' bones, allowing any who looked to see his bones through his flesh. His eyes snap open and his mouth gaped in a silent scream. His body disintigrates and bit by bit the pieces are sucked into the amulet until nothing is left of the king.

Kur drops the amulet and throws back his head in an echoing roar, a rallying call for his allies and a vow of vengence to humanity.

Zak and Tara watch the entire war play out before their eyes in seconds. They watch as civilizations that they've never heard of crumble into dust under Kur's wrath, leaving no trace. They see Kur forge an alliance with the beings he once stood against, the Nagas. They observe how the shifters took a stance of indifference towards the human's pleas to curb their former leader's wrath. Finally they witness the death of Kur at the hands of the Legion of Garuda and the binding of his soul and powers to the Kur Stone.

Tara and Zak emerge from the visions gently and find themselves back where they started. Aala studies Zak briefly before asking, "Do you See?"

Zak gazes up at the past life of Tara with lupine gold eyes, Sight glimmering in them, "Yes m'lady. I am Kur. As I have always been, as I always shall be."

Aala smiles at both of them and says, "You have learned much today young ones, and your marks have been revealed." Zak notices for the first time that Tara's hair was streaked through with blue, "I must send you back now. If ever you need guidance, seek it in your dreams... Good luck, shifters."

The world around them fades to white and they are gone.

**Translation: "Be calm. Trust me."**


End file.
